The Digidestined's Trouble!
by Relaxing Pikachu
Summary: This is my first Digific and it deals with the all of the Adventure kids. The group is having a problem with Cody (Iori) who starts to work for the Digimon Kaiser (Emperor). The group is on a quest to get him out of the Kaiser's control (Revised)
1. A Typical Day in the Digiworld!

*Hi everyone, RP here with another fic for you...only this time it isn't Pokemon! ::Everyone stares at RP in shock:: I know, you were expecting another AAML or whatever it is I write, but this is a Digimon fic. My very first attempt at a Digific so be nice to me. ^_^ I do not own the rights to these characters and/or places that you would normally see on the show and/or comic. Just so you'd know, I'm using Japanese Digimon terms and dubbed ones as well as some of the Japanese Digimon names. Also...for the fun of it, let's say the movies never occured so that way everyone's Digimon can go Ultimate if I want them too. ::Does tongue and eye thing:: Hmm, thinking about it, maybe I should keep it so that the Digimon can't go Ultimate, unless under some strange circumstance, like Gatomon did in an ep a while ago. This fic was also "started" before the defeat of the Digimon Kaiser and only Miyako and Daisuke had two Digimentals. Iori hadn't gotten his Digimental of Sincerity (Reliability here) yet, even though I knew about it. Good, hope that clears things up. Oh, something else, I'm using the "Can't get TK's name right," thing only because I always found it cute and funny. You notice he only messed up his name when he was annoyed with TK over something, even though, for the original, Daisuke never messes up Takeru's name. Oh, and single quotes ' ' means it's being said in thought. Now I hope you enjoy the fic. ^_^* 

The Digidestined's Trouble! 

Part 1: A Typical Day in the Digiworld! 

It was a nice typical day at Odaiba Elementary...nothing out of the ordinary. Sure, five children just went into the computer screen holding strange looking devices in their hands, and along with these five children, they had talking, walking, and/or flying stuffed animals. These five children and their "stuffed animals" have just entered a place called "The Twilight Zone"...er I mean, "The Digital World." 

In this world, creatures called Digital Monsters or "Digimon" lived out their lives. A lot of trouble had been going on in their world lately and these five children, Motomiya Daisuke, Inoue Miyako, Takaishi Takeru - who sometimes went by the nickname TK - Yagami Hikari - who sometimes went by the nickname Kari - and Hida Iori are trying to help out the Digimon and stop the evil that's harming it. This evil force...er, person, is known as the Digimon Kaiser. 

These five children just recently found out his true identity and was shocked to find out that the Digimon Kaiser was indeed the 11-year-old boy genius, Ichijouji Ken, who was idolized by many for his incredible soccer playing skills and for his extreme intelligence. 

A skinny, 12-year-old girl with big glasses wearing an aviator's outfit, or what others called it, an "Amelia Earhart" outfit spoke up. This was Miyako and she had her very own Digimon that resembled a graceful hawk. His name is Hawkmon, and he is quite polite. Miyako always enjoyed working with anything mechanical and is pretty smart when it comes to computers. 

"According to the map," the girl said, looking down at her D-Terminal, which was a device used for sending and receiving email and storing information, leading the way through the petrified looking forest, "a Dark Tower should be near by." 

An energetic, slightly stubborn boy, who wore goggles, not on his eyes, but above them on his head, and a wild, blue jacket decorated with orange-red flames, and a pair of yellow gloves, spoke up next. This was the 11-year-old Daisuke who's the unofficial leader of this group. He, just as Miyako, has his own Digimon partner who's adorable, innocent, and blue named V-mon. Daisuke enjoys playing soccer and idolizes Hikari's older brother, and leader of the old group, Yagami Taichi who is also a Chosen Child (Digidestined), only he was chosen a few years earlier. Taichi doesn't go along with the younger children to the Digital World much since the newer group could handle things. Taichi is also a soccer player, and he was also the one to give Daisuke the round, blue goggles he wears now. Daisuke's old pair broke his first time in the Digital World, so Taichi gave him his, dubbing him the new leader of the Chosen Children. 

"Yeah, let's destroy that thing and set that Ichijouji straight!" 

A quiet girl wearing a digital camera around her neck spoke up next along with a boy wearing a hat that resembled Gilligan's from "Gilligan's Island." These two people were Hikari and Takeru. Both are 11 years old and knew the most about the Digital World, seeing as how they were around when there was trouble there three years earlier. 

Hikari's Digimon resembled a cat and is called, Tailmon (Gatomon). The Mammal Digimon partner of Takeru was called Patamon. Takeru also had an older sibling who was a Chosen Child, his name was Ishida Yamato and just like with Taichi, he was chosen three years earlier, but he didn't have to go to the Digital World as much since Takeru and the others could handle things. Takeru also just moved to Odaiba and now goes to school with Hikari and sees his brother more often. Since Takeru's parents were divorced, and he, along with his mother, lived in Kawada, he didn't see his brother much. Yamato lived with their father in Odaiba, which was pretty far off. 

"Calm down, Daisuke-kun," Hikari told her goggle-headed friend. "We don't want him to know we're here!" 

"Yeah, we don't want to get caught," Takeru added, giving the boy a disapproving look. "We're suppoed to take him by surprise!" 

The next person to speak up was a small boy of nine. This was Iori and he had a Digimon partner who resembled an armadillo called, Armadimon (Armadillomon *sp?*). Iori is pretty wise and responsible for his age and is very polite. He studies Kendo with his grandfather, who is a retired police officer, and is probably a good fighter...if ever in the situation. 

"I agree," Iori said with a small nod. "We shouldn't run into---" 

"Who put _you_ in charge, TA!" Daisuke snapped. 

"IT'S TK AND KARI'S RIGHT, WE SHOULDN'T RUSH RIGHT IN!" 

"But---" Iori barely got out. 

"I DIDN'T SAY WE RUSH RIGHT IN, WE JUST TAKE HIM ON!!" 

"That _is_ rushing in!" Takeru argued. 

"Um...we could just---" Iori spoke up quietly, getting interrupted once again. 

"Why are you two arguing! It's worse enough we have to fight," Miyako sighed dreamily, "Ichijouji. We don't need to listen to your annoying bickering. Why Ken...why does someone as handsome as you have to be so evil..." 

"WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME! THIS ISN'T FAIR!" the young boy shouted out in frustration. He then said in anger, "WHAT CAN I DO FOR ATTENTION!!!" 

"We aren't arguing!" Daisuke insisted. 

"Yeah, we're discussing," Takeru said. 

"Quiet!" Tailmon ordered, getting alert. The cat-like Digimon started to look around, her eyes narrowed and her ears perked up. "I thought I heard something..." 

"I didn't hear anything," V-mon said as he started to look around. 

"That's because you don't have my great sense of hearing," Tailmon responded plainly. 

"You don't know how right you are," they heard a voice chuckle evilly. 

"What was that?" Armadimon asked. 

"I heard it too!" Hawkmon said. 

All of a sudden, a strange looking Digimon who looked to be made of wood appeared before them, stepping out from behind the trees that were nearby. 

"Hey there!" the Digimon greeted. "Time to dispose of you annoying brats!" 

"Oh no, that Digimon has a Dark Spiral on his arm!" Hikari said in alarm. 

"Hahaha...time to destroy you Chosen Children!" 

"What type of Digimon _is_ that anyway?" Daisuke asked. 

Digianalyzer On> 

Armadimon: It's Woodmon, a plant type Digimon with attacks that'll leave you crying in pain if you are not careful. Hmm, it's very strange how he's out here instead of in the woods with his other flunkies. 

Digianalyzer Off> 

"Who do you think you're calling a flunkie!" Woodmon said, feeling offended by Armadimon's description of him. 

"Nothing we can't handle, right V-mon!" 

"Right on, Daisuke!" 

"You're _that_ willing to be destroyed?" the Woodmon asked, laughing slightly. 

"We won't go down without a fight!" Daisuke told the Digimon in determination. 

Woodmon snapped his fingers...er branches. All of a sudden, the rest of the petrified looking trees started to move. 

"All of these petrified trees were Woodmon!!" Hawkmon exclaimed. 

"Okay," the first Woodmon they encountered sneered. "Just try and stop us now!" 

"Okay we will!" Daisuke held up his D-3 and turned to his blue friend. He then shouted, "V-mon...Digimental Up!" 

V-mon nodded and started the process of "Armor Evolving." This process will allow him to take on another form and make him stronger as well as the attacks that he may have. 

"V-mon, Armor Evolve..." 

A bright, firey light surrounded V-mon as his form started to change. His body grew taller, his build more muscular, a vest formed, and his hands were now more claw like. He now wore a mask with a horn in the middle, which seemed to be decorated with what resembled dancing, orange flames. 

"...Fladramon (Flamedramon), burning with courage!" 

"Go get 'em, Fladramon!" Daisuke urged his Digi-pal. 

"Right on!" Fladramon nodded as he jumped into the air, fire engulfing his entire body. "Fire Rocket!" his voice echoed as he landed on one of the Woodmon, burning it and the ring off of his arm. He then jumped back to his original spot, his flame dying. 

"I don't think we should fight the Woodmon." 

No one heard or even bothered listening to Iori. They were too into the battle between Fladramon and the large group of Woodmon. Fladramon's Fire Rocket was burning the majority of them and most of the spirals were coming off of them as he zoomed by. 

"Did you say something, Iori?" Armadimon asked. 

"I was saying, I don't think that we should fight against these Woodmon." 

"Why not?" Tailmon asked. 

"The Digimon Kaiser knows that we have a Digimon who has fire attacks. Why would he send out Woodmon to attack us?" Iori then thought for a moment, coming to a realization. "No, don't attack! It must be some kind of a trick! He's much smarter than that!!" 

"Huh?" the four older kids of the group asked. 

"He's making it too easy for us!" 

All of a sudden a thick fog started to surround the area.... 

*Okay, that's the end of the first part...what do you think?* 


	2. The Digimon Kaiser's Trick!

*Okay, here's part two of this fic. How do you like it so far? Okay, I hope. ^^; Oh, just for a reminder...I'm bad when it comes to battle scenes. Always have. Well, I do not own any of the characters of this fic, so you can't sue me because I said it. Nya, nya, nya. Oh, I'm sure you guys figured this out by now, or just already knew it, but, Miyako is Yolei's original name, Daisuke is Davis's, and Iori is Cody's. Now on with this fic.* 

Part 2: The Digimon Kaiser's Trick! 

"Hmm, a lot smarter than I thought," they heard a light, yet dark voice chuckle. "Now why would I send out something as worthless as Woodmon on purpose!" 

"Ken?" Miyako questioned while looking around, recognizing the voice. 

"Call me the Digimon Kaiser!" the voice commanded in anger. "You are not _worthy_ enough to call me Ken!" 

"Come out here and fight!" Takeru demanded, looking around himself. He could barely see his hand in front of his face due to how thick the fog was. 

"Oh, but I am," Ken chuckled. "How do you like the fog?" 

"I _knew_ it! He wouldn't send out something that's so vulnerable to one of our own Digimon!" Iori said, wishing he would've caught on earlier. 

"What's creating this fog?" Miyako asked while squinting her eyes. "This fog is so thick." 

"Where is he!!" Daisuke demanded, growing slightly frustrated. "I can't see him anyplace." 

Everyone else gave out murmurs of, "I don't know," and, "How do we get out of here." All of sudden, they all heard someone scream out, "Help me...let me go!" 

"Hikari-chan!" both Takeru and Daisuke cried out, recognizing the voice. 

It was Hikari who had screamed. They looked to see where she was, which was right behind Iori, but she was still standing there. They couldn't see her very well, though, since it was so foggy. The only thing that was barely visible was her outline. 

"What's wrong," Iori asked, looking back. 

"I, uh, saw a bug," Hikari laughed nervously, putting her hand behind her head. 

"Oh, okay," Miyako responded slowly, surprised that Kari of all people would scream just from seeing a bug. 

"Well, I'll leave my Digimon here to finish you off!" they heard Ken say. "I have a little friend for you! His name is Pinocchimon and he's stronger than ever!" 

Takeru gasped and a look of fear appeared on his face as memories of his encounters with this Digimon saturated his mind. He then saw the outline of a small, wooden marionette appear. A dark, sinister grin spread across his hard face as he lightly chuckled with his hi-pitched, airy voice. As he walked towards them, some of the fog lifted, which allowed them to see one another better than what they had earlier. 

'Pinocchimon (Puppetmon)? No! He tried to...to..._kill_ me! I was hoping to _never_ see him again! Sure I acted all calm and cool after that incident, but in reality, I was just trying to show all of the bigger kids that I had grown up, that I was big and brave like my brother, not that I was still shaken up over the trauma.' 

"Takeru," Patamon questioned, noticing the apprehensive look on his human partner's face. He was curious as to why Takeru was being so quiet. 

"Pinocchimon? But we...we...destroyed Pinocchimon! How could he be back!" 

"Remember what Gennai said! Everything was reformatted in the Nursery (Primary Village) for Elecmon to hatch and raise!" Patamon reminded him regrettably seeing as how that applied to Pinocchimon as well. "I guess that goes for some of the Dark Masters too!" 

"Which means he's back!" Takeru muttered, his teeth gritted. 

"But how could he evolve to a ultimate (mega) so quickly?" Tailmon asked. "It takes _years_ to evolve that high naturally." 

"Excuse me, but _what_ is a Pinocchimon!" Daisuke asked. 

Digianalyzer On> 

Takeru: This Digimon means business and was one of the strongest Dark Masters to ever serve Piemon (Piedmon)! He has this terrible habit of controlling you like a puppet and is very cold and heartless. Man, I was hoping to NEVER see _him_ again! 

Digianalyzer Off> 

"Takeru, what's wrong with you? Are you okay? It's nothing but a dumb old doll!" 

"That 'dumb old _doll_' tried to kill poor Takeru when he was just eight years old," Patamon informed Daisuke. "He tried to shoot him." 

"Luckily, he got away from Puppetmon all by himself," Tailmon added. 

*Note: I think I'll go back to using "Puppetmon"...I've always liked that name better than "Pinocchimon" even though both names makes sense regardless of which one you use* 

"Nice to see you all again!" the puppet smiled. He then looked over at TK and grinned. "How's my favorite target doing!" 

"Puppetmon," Takeru growled, his fists clenched even tighter. 

Puppetmon lifted up his mallet and shot at the group, but their Digimon took the hit for them. Lucky for them, the mallet wasn't shooting bullets. Instead, it shout out a type of energy ray. 

"No...Fladramon!" 

"Hawkmon!" 

"Armadimon!" 

"Patamon!" 

The feline Digimon noticed that Kari didn't blink once when she took the hit for her. In fact, she looked rather pleased. 

'_What_ is wrong with her? Hikari acts like she doesn't even care!' 

"We have to get that Dark Spiral off of him!" Daisuke said. 

"It won't help!" Patamon said gloomily, realizing the seriousness of their situation. 

"What do you mean?" Miyako asked. "We get rid of the spiral and he becomes good, right?" 

"_Wrong_! He hates us regardless! Especially my brother and me!" 

"Yamato-san? Why," Miyako questioned. 

"It's a long story, we'll explain it later!" Patamon said. 

"That means we attack and try to win!" Daisuke determined. 

Everyone nodded. 

"C'mon Hawkmon, we need you!" Miyako said, holding up her D3. "I'm sure a little of your Samurai skills is _exactly_ what we need for _this_ whacked out Digimon!" 

"An excellent deduction, Miyako-san." 

"Are you up to the challenge, Armadimon?" 

"I sure am, Iori!" 

"Digimental...Up!" both Miyako and Iori called out. 

The two Digimon both evolved to their Armored forms. 

"Hawkmon, armor evolve... 

A light surrounded Hawkmon as his body started to grow. His wings stretched out and turned to coils, as did his legs, a shuriken on the each of them. A white mask covered his face, and a giant shuriken appeared on his back. Over top the mask was a small, green thin-lined teardrop, which represented the crest symbol of purity. 

"...Shurimon, bursting with Purity!" 

"Armadimon, armor evolve..." 

Armadimon's body was surrounded by a bright, yellow light and was engulfed in a cocoon. He then broke out of the cocoon, no longer a land creature, but a large, insectoid Digimon. He now had drills for his hands and his nose, and his body was more metallic looking. Also, decorating his body was purple crop circles, which represented the crest symbol of knowledge. 

"...Digmon, the wisdom of steel!" 

"What are you two waiting for! We want to fight too!" Tailmon urged. 

"Yeah!" Patamon nodded. 

"We'll sit this one out, Tailmon." 

"How come?" Takeru asked, looking at Hikari in slight surprise. "We could really use you out there." 

"Um...just in case.." 

"Party pooper," Tailmon muttered, her arms folded. 

Takeru shrugged, wondering what she could've meant. He then started to sweat a bit as he stared over at Puppetmon. He was terribly scared. Patamon noticed. 

"I know that out of all the evil Digimon you've encountered, that Puppetmon has been the worst for you, Devimon being another, but you have to face him, Takeru." 

TK nodded. 

"You're right. To get over your fears you have to face them!" 

"That's the spirit!" Tailmon cheered. 

"C'mon buddy...Digimental...Up!" 

"Patamon armor evolve..." 

Patamon's short and chubby body started to glow. He grew taller and leaner and wings grew from out of his back. Yellow hair grew from his head, and his tail and his stubby feet turned to golden hooves. His color was now, no longer a tannish orange, but was now a beautiful, majestic golden yellow. 

"...Pegasmon, the hope that gallops across the heavens!" 

"Digmon and I should go for the Dark Tower!" 

No one heard Iori. They weren't really listening, nor did they notice him.. 

"Listen you two, let Iori-kun go for the Dark Tower! Digmon is the perfect Digimon for the job! The rest of us try to defeat Puppetmon!" 

Iori frowned and did what "Takeru" had suggested. 

"C'mon Digmon," Iori said in a gloomy manner. "Let's go and destroy that Dark Tower." 

"Alright, Iori!" 

The others fought against Puppetmon, which was pretty easy for the group, especially since the fog had lifted a lot more. None of the Digimon had any trouble seeing child-like Digimon. 

Pegasmon used his Shooting Star attack on the deranged puppet. Pegasmon opened up his wings and gracefully shout out the golden, like stars. Fladramon continued to use his Fire Rocket attack whenever the others were out of range and Shurimon used his Kusanagi attack, which consisted of him unstrapping the giant shuriken on his back and threw it at Puppetmon. The shuriken spun fast like a buzz saw as it nearly sliced off the puppet's arm, but he evaded the attack just in the nick of time. 

The three eventually destroyed the Dark Spiral that was wrapped around his arm - thanks to Shurimon's Kusunagi attack slicing it off, along with Fladramon's constant attacking using Fire Rocket - but Puppetmon still wanted his revenge for his defeat years earlier. 

"I'll get you, you annoying kids!" Puppetmon growled in determination. "Sure your Digimon are on levels I've never encountered before, but I can still do away with them! I'm an ultimate (mega) and I have the advantage!" He stopped for a moment and smirked again. "Hey, why not surrender to me and save yourselves some trouble!" 

"After what _you_ did!" Takeru argued. "You're working for the Digimon Kaiser voluntarily, _and _you tried to hurt me!" 

"Can you blame a guy for wanting to have a little fun?" Puppetmon replied playfully, no remorse or regret in his voice. 

"Using me as a shooting target doesn't count!" Takeru shouted, growing annoyed over how the Digimon was acting, as if they were playing some type of a game. 

"Aww...the baby is scared," the puppet mocked while dancing around, sticking out his tongue. 

TK jumped off of Pegasmon's back, after he landed, and stood in front of Puppetmon, who stopped dancing. The boy was now much taller than Puppetmon, and towered over him. 

"I'm no baby anymore, Puppetmon, and we _are_ going to defeat you!" 

"I highly doubt that," he responded, not feeling at all threatened. "How about we play war, just like before, one on one. I'll even let you _choose_ the weapon of your choice or maybe that automatic I had you use before." He then started to laugh loudly and started to wipe tears from his eyes. "You could barely hold that gun up that I threw you! You even set it off! I bet you would've shot your_self_ eventually! It was _so_ funny! I tied your worthless brother up, then you, trying to be heroic, said that you would play war if I promised not to kill him. You then picked up that gun and ran away from me right into my mansion. You had your chance at a shot, but it was too heavy for you and that's when the _real_ fun began!" He then laughed even harder, holding his stomach. "I liked my little version of Hide & Seek." 

*Note: I'm sure you all know about this "cut" scene. In the original, when TK was with Puppetmon, he was chasing him all the around that house of his shooting at him. They just painted over the gun that Puppetmon had. I honestly can see why they wanted to cut something like that out. It isn't really all that pleasant and an eight year old trying to hold up a gun, an automatic in fact, or an eight year old being _given_ a gun to begin with wouldn't have gone over too well over here, even if it TK _was_ going to use it in self-defense. Puppetmon threatened to kill Yamato if Takeru didn't play, which is why he did. And it is true, he _did_ give Takeru a real gun to use in the game.* 

"A gun?" Miyako blinked. 

"This is getting serious," Iori stated. He had joined Miyako and Daisuke when he saw Takeru hop off of Pegasmon's back and left Digmon to tend to the Dark Tower. "Guns are no joke!" 

"TK, don't go and get yourself _killed_!" Daisuke called to him. 

"No, Takeru, don't do it!" Pegasmon pleaded. 

"I'm not going to do anything," Takeru shouted back to his friends. 

"Okay, I'll stop. I was only toying with you. I'm not really bad. I just like the power of being stronger than everyone else." 

Everyone looked at Puppetmon skeptically. He noticed and waved his hand to them. 

"Hey, if you don't believe me, I'll tell you where the Digimon Kaiser is _and_ his base." 

"Why should I believe you!" 

"Because it isn't like you to hold a grudge against somebody or to hate a person or Digimon for that matter. You forgive everyone." 

Takeru got an exasperated look on his face because he knew the strange Digimon was right. 

"I don't trust that wooded mess," Miyako whisperred. 

"Neither do I," Daisuke whisperred back. 

"Where is Ichijouji," Takeru demanded. 

"You hurt my feelings!" Puppetmon then started to cry like a child who had just been yelled at by an adult. "I shouldn't even _help_ you. You don't even trust me." 

"Can you blame him?" Tailmon rolled her eyes. 

"Here I am, apologizing and you don't believe me." 

He started to blow his nose and took out a handkerchief that seemed to appear from out of nowhere...   
******   
"What is that moron _doing_!?!" Ken nearly shouted from his secret spot, monitoring his current ally. "He better not rat me out!"   
******   
"Wow, he's actually _crying_!" Miyako noted. "Do you honestly think that he really meant what he said?" 

TK looked like he was about to make the most important decision in his life and thought for a moment. He then gave the wooded Digimon a slight look of disgust, and sighed, finally speaking up. 

"Well, if he's really willing to be our friend..." 

"...then I _guess_ we should give him the benefit of the doubt," Miyako nodded. 

"I don't agree," Iori said while shaking his head. "I don't trust him!" 

"I don't know what to think in this case, but if you all feel we should, then I'll take my chances," Daisuke reluctantly, and slowly, agreed, "even if that chance means trusting Puppetmon!" 

"If you are truly good, then I guess we can forgive you," Takeru spoke up for everyone. 

"No, Takeru-san, Daisuke-san, Miyako-san. I don't believe him! He doesn't look anywhere _near_ honest to me!" 

"You should've listened to the kid," he started to murmur. He then gave off an evil smirk and laughed, "But it's too late! You shouldn't be so trusting. That's one of my ultimate attacks, 'Lie'!" 

"You jerk!" Takeru shouted, angrier than he had ever been in his entire life. 

"I _knew_ we couldn't trust him! You all should have listened to me!" 

"Aww, such harsh words," Puppetmon yawned as he raised his mallet. "Bullet Hammer!" 

"Takeru!" 

Pegasmon jumped in front of Takeru, pushing him back, as his mane started to stand on end. "Silver Blaze!!" he called as silver streaks shot from his mane, blocking off the bullets that Puppetmon had shot. 

They continued to fight, until Tailmon told Hikari to let her fight, but Hikari still refused.   
********   
The Digimon Kaiser watched in amusement... 

"They have no idea what's happened." 

"Let me go!" a voice demanded. 

"Oh, pipe down you brat!" Ken shouted.   
********   
Iori had succeeded in destroying the Dark Tower earlier, even though, for some odd reason, Kari had tried to stop him before he had joined back up with Daisuke and Miyako. She had kept telling Iori to just give up and just to leave the towers alone. He ignored her and let Digmon continue with his task, which caused the girl to grumble some. 

She was also cheering for Puppetmon, Tailmon noticed, when the others were figting against him. She would either quietly cheer for him, or just remain emotionless and quiet. Tailmon just shrugged at her partner's strange behavior. 

"If you won't let me armor evolve, then I'll just do it on my own!" 

"No, wait...you-you shouldn't!" Hikari protested with a slight stutter. 

Tailmon didn't listen. 

"Tailmon, armor evolve to...to...what's wrong?" 

Nothing happened. 

"What the..." She then came to a shocking realization. "You're not Hikari! I would be able to evolve if you were!" 

"You're very smart." Hikari's gentle, sweet look turned to that of a cold one as an evil smile spread across her round face. 

"Yeah, they _are_ smarter than they look," Puppetmon laughed. 

"Not...Hikari?" Takeru managed to say. 

"Oh no, if it's not her, who is it then?" Miyako asked. 

Tailmon then attacked her. 

"Neko Panchii (Cat Punch/Lightening Paw)!" the cat like Digi called while attacking the fake Kari. Between scratches and punches, she demanded, "What have you done with my Hikari! Bring her back now!" 

"Hey, watch it," the fake Kari pleaded in a somewhat deep and spooky voice. 

Tailmon refused to stop as she threw her punches harder, socking her one last time in the face. The fake Hikari stood up and held her jaw where Tailmon had applied the last hit. "You shouldn't have done that," she darkly murmured as her body started to take change. Her legs vanished, her teeth became jagged and sharp, and her eyes grew wide. Her hands were now covered with a strange linen material, just as the rest of her body was. 

Everyone blinked as they saw the spooky, hideous creature that now floated before them. 

"It's a Bakemon!" Miyako gasped out, sickened at the sight of the ferocious, ghost-like Digimon. 

"He has no Dark Ring or Spiral, so that must mean that this Digimon works for the Digimon Kaiser voluntarily!" Iori deducted. 

"Even if he were wearing one, it wouldn't work since Digmon destroyed the Dark Tower," Miyako pointed out. 

"He's pretty smart. Maybe there's another one hidden someplace, but I think you're right." Iori looked down at his Digivice, scanning to see if there was another Dark Tower nearby. "I don't think he has one hidden anyplace. I don't see one here on my Digivice." 

"Give us back Hikari!" Daisuke demanded. "What have you done with her!" 

"Does it really matter?" the Bakemon snarled. 

Bakemon then attacked the kids using his Hell's Hand attack, which consisted of his shooting out claws from his hand. Their Digimon tried to protect them, in their devolved forms, but got knocked back in the process.   
*********   
"Destroying that one Bakemon should be easy," Ken responded as if this was a show to him. "I don't even care...I got what I needed." 

"How can you be so cruel and mean!" the real Hikari asked from behind him. She seemed to be in a small, digitalized forcefield. 

"Hey, if nobody crosses me, then I wouldn't be. You annoying insects have crossed me for the _very_ last time!" 

"They can't see us?" 

"Nope. We're well hidden and they don't even see us!" He then laughed at the irony of the situation. "We're _right_ in front of their eyes and yet they don't see us!" 

Kari then screamed at the top of her lungs. 

"TAKERU...TAILMON....IORI...MIYAKO...DAISUKE...HELP ME...WE'RE OVER HERE....BEHIND THE--" 

"BE QUIET!!!" 

Ken stepped through the forcefield and back slapped her, which caused the timid girl to fall. She gave out a small yelp of pain as she held her now slightly red, stinging cheek and stared up at Ken in utter surprise. She didn't think that he would do something like that. 

"This will keep you quiet you annoying insect!" he muttered as he removed the forcefield and grabbed a rope. He then proceeded to tie her up, even though Hikari tried her best to get out of his grasp, but it was of no use. The girl's torso was now tied, and Ken had managed to just finish tying up her ankles. 

Ken then walked away from her coolly and sat back down at his computer and started to type on it. He then turned back to face Hikari, while still seated, and gave her an arrogant grin. Hikari's eyes were now wide with fright. She was now hanging over what looked to be a bottomless pit. It had digitally appeared from out of no place. 

"Try to get out of that! If your friends _do_ come, they'll be in for a _big_ surprise if they get close enough! It's either them or you!" He then thought for a moment to make Hikari's situation even more deathly and her chances of getting rescued even more unlikely. "Hmm, to make sure...I think I'll have Puppetmon help out a bit." 

"Let me go!" Hikari struggled, trying to get lose of the tight ropes. 

Ken ignored her pleas and proceeded in using a transmitter. 

"Puppetmon, if those fools discover where I am, I want you to use that very special power of yours...if you catch my drift..."   
***********   
"Right, I get what you're hinting at!" Puppetmon smiled playfully. "Ooh, this is going to be _so _much fun!" 

"Hikari!" Takeru called, ignoring the tiny fact that Puppetmon seemed to have been talking with himself. "I thought I heard her!" 

"That was only me," the Bakemon responded nervously waving his ghostly arm around. "Yeah, that's it! I was practicing my best Hikari impression." 

Takeru ran towards the Bakemon and shouted out angerly, "Where is she!" 

The Bakemon attacked and knocked Takeru back. 

"Are you okay?" Miyako asked in concern, helping the taller boy up. 

"You shouldn't rush into things like that!" Iori scolded. 

"Yeah, that's my job!" 

Everyone sweat dropped from Daisuke's statement. 

"Now you jerk," Daisuke continued, "where's Kari!" 

"How would _I_ know!" 

"Yeah, I told you _I_ did, but noooooo, you wouldn't listen to me," Puppetmon mocked. 

Takuru looked like he wanted to knock Puppetmon out. He had a look of true hatred, one that had never been witnessed or seen by any of them. He was ready to apply that anger to both the ghost and the puppet. 

Pegasmon, who had devolved back to Patamon, offered to fight for Takeru. 

"Just let me evolve to Angemon, Takeru." 

TK didn't even hear his small friend, and only had one thing on his mind, the well-being of his childhood friend. 

"Where's Hikari, you creep!" Takeru shouted, his fists bawled. 

"Wouldn't _you_ like to...AHHH!!!" 

Tailmon attacked the Bakemon used her Cat Punch attack again and knocked him down. When Bakemon was knocked down, the fog lifted completely, revealing the Digimon Kaiser, along with Hikari hanging over a deep pit. It was like they were in a room and with the use of Ken's computer, it made it look as if they weren't even there, which is why no one noticed that the Bakemon had replaced Kari. 

"Takeru!" Kari called. 

"Hikari!" 

The Digimon Kaiser stood in front of her - not _too_ closely - near the pit, his whip in his right hand. 

"If you want her back, you'll have to surrender to me and if you come within 3 feet of this pit, it'll trigger---" 

Takeru and Tailmon didn't even listen and attacked. Takeru tried to punch him and Tailmon tried to scratch him, but he just evaded by moving just in time to dodge both oncoming attacks. 

"This was all just supposed to be a game," Ken spat, slight annoyance in his voice. "Too bad they just can't accept the fact that they lost! Well, time to go!" 

Ken jumped and a MegaSeadramon appeared, his landing right on it. He then took off riding his MegaSeadramon, leaving Hikari hanging over a pit. 

"Hikari!" everyone called. 

"Takeru!" Hikari gasped, noticing how he was about to run towards her. 

"I'm coming, Kari!" 

"TK...NO...DON'T!!!" 

"Don't worry, I'll get you down!" 

"TK, don't come any closer!" 

Takeru didn't listen to her and started running towards the pit anyway when something stopped him, knocking him back... 


	3. Operation Save Hikari!

*Hey again. Another part for ya. Oh, and I know you all are wondering about Iori and WHY he's so out of character...you know, him actually yelling or getting mad really isn't his nature...unless it has something to do with Ken. lol Well, how's this...he's just a bit annoyed at the fact that noone ever pays attention to him and it's finally starting to bug him and it's starting to show. That's why he's been somewhat easily annoyed so far in this fic. There's an explanation for ya, so you can go on and enjoy this wonderful fic. lol Now, I do not own any of these characters or any of that other good stuff. Now on with the fic, and please remember to leave reviews and responses for yours truly here. ^_^* 

Part 3: Operation Save Hikari! 

"TK!! Oh no!" Hikari gasped out. 

"What do we do!" Armadimon responded in alarm. "How are we going to save her!" 

"You don't!" the puppet-like Digimon snarled from behind them. 

The deranged Puppet started to laugh as he noticed the questioning looks the children wore. 

"I have another trick up my sleeve!" he said, a twinkle in his eye. 

The unbalanced puppet started to move his hands around, as if controlling a marionette. 

"What are you talking abou...ahhhh!" 

The glasses-wearing girl started dancing in place. 

"This is no time to dance around, Hikari-chan is in trouble!!" Daisuke complained to Miyako. 

"I can't help it!" 

"What do you mean you can't help---ahh!" 

The goggle-headed boy started moving next. 

"I can't control my body!" Daisuke grunted, trying his best to regain control of his own body. As a matter of fact, with all of this going on, none of the others could move their bodies. 

"Hey, that 'Goggle Boy' reminds me of that Taichi kid." 

*Note: Don't know if you know or not, but Goggle Boy just happens to be the name of Daisuke's Image Theme...you know, him singing. It's about how much he cherishes his goggles. It's a cool song and I really like it. (^_^) To be honest, I just wrote that Goggle Boy thing in...I wasn't even thinking of the song when I did it. I just noticed it when I went back over it before I submitted it.* 

"Hey, Goggle Boy, catch!" Puppetmon laughed as he controlled Miyako to jump high into the air so that she would land right on Daisuke. 

"AHHH!!" both kids screamed. 

"Help me!" Miyako whimpered, not wanting to fall face first into the ground. 

"Miyako!!" Daisuke called, a bit worried, as he stared at the taller girl coming towards him. He ended up catching her voluntarily - Puppetmon wasn't controlling him to catch her, he managed to do that all his own - but caused the both of them to fall down in the process. 

"Can't you catch any better than that!" Miyako shouted at Daisuke, whom of which she was now sitting on. 

"You're not light, you know!" 

"What do you _mean_ I'm not light?!" Miyako demanded, feeling offended by Daisuke's statement. "You're just weak! I am _not_ over weight and am nowhere near it, and I watch my weight and all that other important stuff, and furthermore---" 

"You got caught and that's what matters," Daisuke interrupted, trying to avoid an argument since he really wasn't in the mood to argue with the girl. "I could've let you fall!" 

"I bet I wouldn't be in as much pain right now if I would've!" 

"Aww, just shutup why don't ya!" 

"Look here, Daisuke, don't you make me---" 

"Let's not argue now," V-mon interrupted with a sweat drop from Daisuke and Miyako's arguing. "You're both safe." 

"I'm sorry for getting mad at you," Miyako apologized, her voice calmer. "It's not even your fault." She then angrily glared towards a certain, mentally unstable Digimon. "We _should_ be mad at Puppetmon, not each other." 

Daisuke nodded in agreement. 

"Stop this, Puppetmon!" Hawkmon ordered, annoyed with the fact that he had harmed Miyako. "Stop with all of these childish antics!" 

"Keep talking and we'll have fried chicken for dinner and I _love_ drumsticks!" 

Puppetmon used his powers started to lead Hawkmon over near some flames that were surrounding Hikari. 

"How about we compromise," Hawkmon asked, fear and uneasiness evident in his voice. 

Puppetmon left him alone and started after the others. All of a sudden, the Dead Moon Circus theme started to play. He made Armadimon, V-mon, and Iori do circus tricks by tumbling and flipping.   
****   
RP: Don't ask about the music...it fits the scene. A demented puppet making everyone do circus tricks and some nice "demented" circus music to go along with it. ::Does tongue and eye thing:: Nya.   
****   
"Flipping isn't my thing!" V-mon shouted, wanting to stop. 

"I have always hated the circus!! It is filled with a bunch of freaks and," Iori gave Puppetmon a look of annoyance, "I hate clowns and this music makes me dislike you even more because it makes me think of how de_mented_ you are!!"   
****   
RP: I honestly like the Dead Moon Circus theme...imo, Sailor Moon SuperS has the best music, Stars coming in second because of the "Three Lights," and as you all know, I'm a big Sailor Moon fan...but thinking about it, Pinocchimon's theme sounds a bit more demented with his Japanese voice and stuff (^^);*   
****   
"Who are you calling a clown!" 

"You!" Iori shouted to him. 'He doesn't mind being called demented, yet he minds being called a clown. What a strange and mixed up Digimon.' 

"Oh really?" Puppetmon queried, a demented smirk spreading across his face. "Take this then! Armadimon can use you as a trampoline!" 

Iori's eyes went wide and he gave out a gasp thinking about how painful that would be. 

"Can we please stop?" Armadimon pleaded. "That'll hurt Iori!" 

"I'm having a bit _too_ much fun here to stop now!" Puppetmon said as he made Armadimon hop up and down in place. He then looked over at Iori. "I've never seen a kid that just won't cry! That old Takeru would've started crying a long time ago!" 

"Just leave us alone!" Iori said, wanting this nightmare to end. 

"Time to try out a new power of mine." 

Puppetmon continued to make Iori do circus tricks. At one point, Iori looked as if he was walking on a tightrope. Iori then finally started crying as if he were scared for his life. 

"Iori, what's wrong?!" 

Iori didn't answer Miyako and continued to cry, screaming out "Stop it! I don't want to drown!" 

"I have the power now to tap into people's minds and bring out their worst fears and make them a reality! His just so happens to be water, which eventually leads to drowning...drowning being his biggest fear!" 

Iori looked as if he were trying to swim and was gagging and gurgling for help, crying as if in terrible fear. It really seemed as if he were in a body of water trying to swim and the choking sounds Iori was making sounded real. Miyako nearly cried at the sight. 

"What a cowardly way to fight!" Daisuke said, his right fist bawled, wishing he could help his young friend. 

"He's finally crying! Music to my ears!" Puppetmon gave off a manic laugh as he stared down at Iori who was lain out on the ground. "I'll get back to that smart-mouthed boy later! I have bigger and better things to go after!" 

Iori then stopped swimming and noticed that he was on land; that he was never even _in_ the water. He then felt rather confused and then _very _angry after he realized what had happened. If looks could kill, Puppetmon would've died right then and there. Iori was giving him the most evil look ever.   
****   
RP: Just think of the look Cody had in the episode where Davis wanted his opinion on whether or not they should let Ken join them and he was wearing his Kendo gear. Everytime Davis mentioned the name "Ken" the more and more annoyed Cody looked when he swung that Shinnai of his down...he almost looked evil if ya ask me.   
****   
Puppetmon noticed Iori's angered look and smiled. "Just what I wanted. Maybe I should toss a gun to him and see how _he_ does!" He then started laughing. "Takeru would've never gotten like that! That's what ruined the fun! I'm sure this kid would be more of a challenge!" 

"He'd probably get filled with holes and we'd all be out of here, if he gave _Iori_ a gun!" Armadimon muttered. 'He _does_ do all that Kendo stuff and is probably a lot stronger than he looks, but knowing Iori, he wouldn't even _need _the gun and he isn't the type to really fight.' 

"Hey, Armadillo, did you say something?" Puppetmon asked, giving him a suspicious look. 

"Nope, I didn't say anything," Armadimon responded with a toothy grin. 

"This is ridiculous!" Tailmon shouted out in exasperation, wishing she could control her body. 

"Can't you do better than that!" Patamon said. "All you're doing is bullying us around!" 

"Yeah, fight like a mon!" 

"Ahh, so the wimp speaks up," Puppetmon said, staring over at Takeru. "How about _you_ dance too!" 

Puppetmon started to make Takeru dance and twirl and tumble. It hurt him a bit since he wasn't used to dancing and everyone could really tell that he was in pain, but Takeru refused to cry or audibly show how much pain he was in. He didn't want to humor his current target of hatred. 

"Man, I hope he doesn't make him do a split," Daisuke shuddered. 

Miyako leaned over to Daisuke and whispered to him, overhearing what he had just said. 

"Shhh, don't give him any ideas..." 

Tailmon and Patamon were just stuck in place, just like the others. 

"Leave him and the rest of my friends alone or else!" Takeru ordered, trying his back to hold back his tears due to the pain he was in. 

"Now you _know_ that you are in _no _position to threaten me!" 

He started to jerk Hikari around like she was on a bungee cord using his powers, like he had with the others earlier by making them dance and tumble. Everyone shouted out threats to the evil Digimon, especially Daisuke. Hikari kept screaming "Stop it, stop it," in terrible pain since the ropes were so tight around her. 

'I have to get out of his control...Hikari needs me! We have to save her,' Takeru determined in thought. 

"Good, now that _she's_ quiet, I can get back to you!" 

Takeru struggled to get from out of Puppetmon's control, especially since he was planning on using his mallet to shoot at him. This time, he had loaded it with real bullets. 

"This'll make your brother pay for what he did to me!" Puppetmon muttered as he continued loading the mallet with bullets, making sure no chamber was empty. 

He still wanted his revenge for Takeru ditching him and not playing with him all those years ago, and also to make Yamato sad for destroying him and ruining his fun. He felt that by killing Takeru, it would surely make Yamato sorry for what he had done to him. 

"You...will...not...control...me...Puppet...mon!" 

"Wait, what's going on here!" 

"Kari...is...in...trouble! She...is...my...friend! One...of...my...best...friends!" 

"C'mon...Takeru-san!" Iori cheered. 

"Teach that puppet a lesson, Takeru!" Daisuke encouraged. 

"You can do it!" Miyako rooted. 

"Kari...needs...my...help! You...will...not...control...MEEE!!!" 

He got out of his control, which took Puppetmon by surprise. Takeru ran towards the puppet, his guard totally off. Due to this, Takeru managed to knock the mallet from right out of his hands. After this, Takeru pinned Puppetmon down to the floor. 

"No fair!" Puppetmon argued, trying to get up. "You're not fighting fair!" 

"_FAIR_!?!" the young basketball player questioned, anger and spite in his voice. "You don't know the _meaning_ of the word! You can't control me, and I won't _allow_ you to, so just give up!" 

Puppetmon kicked TK off of him and went towards his mallet, crawling, but Takeru got back up and kicked him so he could hinder him from getting to it. After he had done that, he hurried and picked up Puppetmon's mallet and held it over his head, ready to swing it, smashing his head in if fate would allow it. 

"Get out of here before I use this on you and I am _not _bluffing!" Takeru threatened, his eyes pitiless and cold. 

As of right now, it was like Takeru wasn't even thinking. His hopeful, and bright demeanor was no longer that, and was replaced by that of a child with no remorse for the life of anyone who had ever caused harm towards him. Iori stared curiously at Takeru a bit surprised at the way he was currently acting. He sensed something different about him, like Takeru could take the life of Puppetmon without thinking twice about it. 

Puppetmon stared in fear, shaking somewhat, the mere inches from his head, knowing that Takeru could swing at any moment. He never realized how much Takeru had changed and how much of a hatred he had towards him. 

'Maybe I shouldn't have scarred his mind for life when he was a kid,' the puppet thought in worry, 'but I was only having a little fun.' 

"You better listen to him..." V-mon started. 

"...or face the consequences..." Patamon stepped up. 

"...which will be..." Hawkmon continued. 

"...all of us and I'm sure that by working together..." Armadimon chimed. 

"...we _will_ defeat you!" Tailmon finished, her claws extended. 

Daisuke and Miyako stood up, along with Iori, and looked down at Puppetmon who was still just moments away from Takeru smashing his head in. 

"If you know what is good for you, you will leave us alone or else we use you for firewood!" Miyako threatened. 

The puppet then muttered annoyingly under his breath and insulted Miyako. 

"What can a _girl_ do! All they're good for is cooking and cleaning and since you're a human, all you can do right is have more human children!" 

"You shouldn't have said that," both Iori and Daisuke said. 

A vein started to show on Miyako's forehead, which meant she was pretty much angry. 

"I am a modern woman and a woman can do anything she sets her mind to and can do anything that a man can do..." 

"Except for going to the bathroom stand---" 

"_Dai_suke-kun, _Dai_suke-san!" both Takeru and Iori shouted at the boy. 

"Um...never mind," he apologized with a small laugh. 

Right at that moment, Puppetmon manage to scramble away from Takeru since he had put his attention on Daisuke. He then stood up, Takeru's angered look remaining as he stared at the puppet, ready to beat him senseless. 

"How _dare_ you insult my abilities as a modern woman!" Miyako argued, motioning for Takeru _not_ to attack the Digimon since she wanted to get her piece in. "I won't allow you to say something so sexist and prejudiced and get away with it!" 

"You're nothing but talk," he yawned. "Something else girls are good at, talking about stuff no one wanted to hear, since it is boring and pointless." 

He then walked up to Miyako and kicked her right in the shin of her right leg. She grabbed her leg and hopped up and down in pain. 

"That was a cheap trick! How dare you kick her like that!" Daisuke argued, about ready to knock the Puppet's lights out. Takeru gritted his teeth, growling, his grip growing on the handle of the heavy, giant mallet. 

"Whatever," he scoffed. 

The creepy little puppet reached to his back and took something out that was strapped to it that none of them had earlier. 

"Now _this_ is fair!" he smiled as if he were a five-year-old child with a new toy. 

"It's a gun!" Iori gasped. 

"I'll wait on the crybaby over there," Puppetmon said, looking over at TK. "But, for now, I'll get rid of the annoying, opinionated, nobody cares what she's talking about _bitch_ who doesn't know when to shut up!" 

Daisuke, Iori, Takeru and all of the Digimon gasped. They weren't expecting Puppetmon to call Miyako, or _any_one for that matter, something like that. 

Miyako turned red and got mad after what he called her. She was so mad she was trembling. 

"She's so mad, she can't even say anything back to him! I feel sorry for Puppetmon now!" 

"You _said_ it!" Armadimon agreed. 

Iori thought for a moment and remembered what Puppetmon had done to him. 

"Never mind, I don't, actually." He then started to cheer. "Sock him one time for me, Miyako-san!" 

Takeru, not caring what happened or if he even got shot and killed in the process, was about to charge after Puppetmon, the mallet raised, but Miyako beat him to it. She charged after Puppetmon and pushed him into the flames, falling into the deep pit below Hikari. "No fair!!" he screamed as the burning wooden puppetmon fell into the bottomless pit, doomed to fall for all eternity. 

Takeru tossed down the mallet, a look of slight disappointment on his face. He didn't understand why he was disappointed, Puppetmon was gone, but a part of him wanted to be the one to fight against him...to kill him. To make him sorry for what he had done in the past. 

"Way to go, Miyako!" Daisuke cheered while jumping up and down. 

"That's one less Digimon for us to have to worry about," Miyako said while brushing herself off. 

Miyako was walking back towards where Daisuke, Iori, Takeru and the other Digimon were, but she accidentally bumped the gun with her foot that Puppetmon had dropped after she had pushed him into the pit. The gun went off, which caused the shot to make all of them jump since it made such a loud, unexpected banging sound. The bullet ended up ricocheting off of a nearby wall and was headed _straight_ for Kari! Luckily, the bullet missed her, but had hit the rope slightly as it went by her head. The rope was now starting to give way. 

"Help me...somebody!" the light-traited girl whimpered. 

"V-mon, evolve and...um..._do_ something! Help her! Wait, I know. Burn the rope and you um...wait...I know I...er..." The goggle-headed boy screamed out in frustration. "We have to save her!" 

"We can't get close enough to save her without killing ourselves, practically!" 

What Iori meant was that there was now a fire surrounding Hikari and if they even tried to untie the rope, Hikari would've fallen into the very deep pit and met the same fate as Puppetmon. They, themselves, couldn't help. When Takeru ran up to try and save her earlier, he had triggered something to start a fire going. The flames were _very _high and Hikari's rope was starting to rip because of the fire's singeing it. 

Kari was now shedding silent tears. 

"There's no way you can save me! Run and save yourselves!" 

"No, there's no way we're leaving you behind!" 

"You know you can't save me, but I really appreciate your enthusiasm and your wanting to try, Daisuke-kun," Hikari smiled gently. 

"Hikari-chan..." 

"Oh, Takeru-kun, please tell oniichan that I love him and that he's the best brother I've ever had and tell him thank you for always taking care of me whenever I was sick when I was younger. I really appreciated it." 

TK stared at Kari in disbelief. She was giving up hope. After her statement, he felt like crying himself. 

'I can't believe she's saying something like that! If something happens to her, I would _never_ forgive myself!' 

"_What_ can we do! We can't get close enough and we're way too short to even try to go over the flames." Miyako panicked, feeling helpless. 

"Our Digimon are also all too weak to evolve to their armored forms because of our battle with Puppetmon," Iori stated sadly. 

"You guys worry too much, I'm sure we can save her!" Tailmon responded, no worry or panic in her voice. 

A pink light was starting to surround Hikari as she cried silently. Everyone stared at the bright light in awe, for only a brief moment, but didn't think much of it and was more concerned about saving her. 

"What do you mean! She's in trouble!" Takeru reminded the cat-like Digimon. 

The more and more Kari cried, the brighter and brighter the pink light around her got. It, eventually, became unbearable for one to stare at. 

"What's that strange light surrounding her," Miyako asked, shielding her eyes. 

"Strange," Daisuke uttered. 

"I don't know why, but I feel as if I can evolve. That light is giving off enough energy for me _to e_volve!" 

"How if she..." Takeru trailed off, not finishing his question, staring at the bright light. 

Tailmon shrugged as she started to evolve. 

"Tailmon, super evolve... 

Tailmon's petite, cat like body started to grow to that of an average sized human. Her body became curvy and long, blonde hair now flowed down her back. A helmet covered her big, blue eyes and pink ribbons draped around her arms. She now wore white boots, and angelic wings protruded from her back. 

"...Angewomon!" 

Everyone started in amazement. This was their first time ever seeing Angewomon, with the exception of Takeru and Patamon. 

"Patamon, I could use your help." 

Patamon nodded to Angewomon and evolved to his adult (champion) form. 

"Patamon evolve... 

Patamon's chubby body took on the form of a human. His build became quite muscular, and he too had long, blonde hair. He now held a golden staff, and blue ribbons draped around his body, along with the wings also protruding from his body. 

"...Angemon!" 

"Two angels?" Miyako asked in amazement as she stared at the two Digimon, a heavenly glow surrounding the both of them. 

"So it's true! TZ and Kari _both_ have Angel Digimon!" He then looked over at V-mon and asked, "Why couldn't you evolve into that so I can have more of a chance with Kari!!" 

"Um...sorry?" 

Angewomon flew over towards Kari, but not to closely. She was planning on using an attack to free her human partner. Angemon then flew over the flames, almost getting burned in the process, and positioned himself right under Kari. 

"Holy..." 

A beautiful, majestic rainbow like glow surrounded her body as she pulled her arm back on the bow that formed in her hand. 

"...Arrow!" Angewomon's voice echoed as she aimed her arrow at the rope, releasing it, causing the rope to snap. Angemon caught her and flew up over the flames, trying his best to keep Kari safe from the flames. 

"Alright Angemon...Angewomon!" everyone cheered. 

After Kari was rescued, Miyako observed what was going on around them. 

"This place looks like it's about to collapse!" 

"Or either it's going to crash, like my computer did a while ago," Iori added. "Oh, I forgot to thank you for restoring everything for me." 

"I'm in the computer club and must know these things," Miyako stated proudly. "Besides, Izumi-senpai showed me a thing or two about computer crashes and how to restore everything." 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you restored Iori's computer, that's nice," Daisuke told the two in a rushed manner. "Now let's get out of here!" 

Everyone nodded and/or evolved. 

"We could use the help, Hawkmon. I know you're tired, but---" 

"No need to worry, Miyako-san. As a matter of fact, I feel revived. That light coming from Hikari-san seems to have have rejuvinated and replenished my energy." 

"I feel the same way!" V-mon said. 

"Same here," Armadimon nodded. 

Hawkmon armor evolved to Holsmon with no trouble at all, and Armadimon, Iori, V-mon, and Daisuke rode along with her on him. Angewomon carried Hikari, and Angemon carried Takeru. The Bakemon that had impersonated Kari was still down, but awoke and noticed that the place seemed to be collapsing. 

"Wait, you can't leave me! I'm cool; I'm on your side. I was only joking. I had to work for the Digimon Kaiser because he promised me my weight in Digidollars! Um, I also--" 

Angewomon, annoyed with the Bakemon's bickering, sighed out, "Bakemon, just lose your power." She then rolled her eyes, which no one can see, and rhetorically asked, "And _why_ do you call it Digidollars when it's nothing but American money?"   
****   
RP: Yes, that's true folks. They're not called "Digidollars" originally. It's just American currency, which is why both Jyou and Miyako had trouble when it came to paying for their meals. They had yen, not dollars. Also, that "Bakemon lose your power" stuff, isn't like that originally. Originally, it's just a Shinto chant that Jyou just happened to know about. He was doing a type of Budahist chant in that ep.   
****   
The Bakemon showed to be weaker than what he had earlier. He acted as if he were in pain and fainted. 

"I wasn't even _trying_ that mind over matter thing," Angewomon said as she sighed out a puff of cloudy air. 

The strange place that Kari was being held prisoner in collapsed. They all landed to the ground. After landing, Daisuke ran as fast as he could towards Kari to be by her side. 

"Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help? Could I---" 

"I'm fine, thanks to you guys," Hikari smiled at Daisuke. She then turned to the blonde of the group. "Especially you, Takeru-kun. Thanks a lot." 

"It was nothing," Takeru said, a nervous look and smile on his face. One he always seemed to get whenever Kari would thank him for something. "Anyone would've done it." 

"Dumb TA," Daisuke muttered incomprehensively. 

"Um, are you okay?" Iori asked, noticing Daisuke's annoyed look. 

"You look a little hot around the collar there, Daisuke," V-mon said, looking up at his partner. 

"I'm fine, let's just get back home!" the boy insisted. 

They all went back the way that they came and ended up right back in the classroom. The gate to the Digiworld then closed and locked behind them. It was already pretty late that afternoon.... 

"How _dare_ that stupid Ichijouji tries to hurt Hikari-chan like that!" 

"It's your own fault!" 

"Look here, TC---" 

"It's _T_K!!" 

"Whatever, it was _not_ my fault!" 

Hikari and Miyako sighed. 

"Should we even _try_ to break up this fight?" Miyako asked. 

"Why bother, they'll just start right back up again." 

She then got quiet as she stared at the two boys arguing. 

"What's wrong, Miyako-san?" Hikari asked in concern. 

"I can't become Ichijouji Miyako if Ken-kun is the Digimon Kaiser!" Miyako cried. 

"Sorry about that," Hikari stated bluntly, which was an attitude she always seemed to have, "but we have to find a way to stop him from hurting all of the Digimon." 

"I know, I know," Miyako calmed down. She then sighed out, "Maybe he'll change someday." 

"Oh yeah!" Daisuke argued as he stood up to Takeru, right in his face. 

"YEAH!!" Takeru shouted back at the boy, an angered look on his face. 

"You and Patamon should've protected Hikari-chan while V-mon and me and the others fought...then that jerk wouldn't have captured her!" 

"If it weren't for your _mouth_," Takeru countered, his teeth gritted, his anger having reached its peak, "Ichijouji wouldn't have even known we were there!" 

"That has nothing to do with---" Iori started, trying to be the voice of reason. 

"How _dare_ you!" Daisuke growled, not paying Iori any mind. 

"But---" 

"Whatever!" Takeru muttered, calming down some. He was still pretty angered over the entire incident actually occuring. 

The Digimon sweatdropped. 

"They're safe, yet they're arguing," a small, big-eyed, big headed Digimon stated in bewilderment. This was Chibimon, V-mon's Baby II (In-Training) form. 

"I still don't get it," a legless, light pink Digimon chirped, a feather sticking up from his huge head. This Digimon, that truly resembled a stuffed animal, was Poromon, Hawkmon's Baby II form. 

"You know human boys their age," Patamon started, "they act weird." 

"Yeah, human boys their age act weird in front of human girls," Chibimon agreed. 

"That'd be my guess," a small lemon drop looking Digimon bounced hyperly. This was Upamon, Armadimon's Baby II form. 

"Okay you two, break it up or I'll evolve to Angewomon and use my Saint Aim on you two!" 

"He started it!" both Takeru and Daisuke insisted in unison, pointing at one another. They then got in each others' faces and shouted, "DID NOT!!" 

"Both of you be quiet!" Hikari said tired of the arguing, stepping in between the two taller boys, pushing the two apart. "I would've gotten caught anyway!" 

"Yeah, she's right," Miyako added, also growing tired of the two boys' arguing. "He used Bakemon to capture her and used that same trick he used on Daisuke when he had to choose one of us to save." 

"The fog also wasn't helping," Iori piped up quietly. 

"I _guess_ you're right, but TA here could've done a better job." 

"What did you say!!" 

"C'mon, TK, calm down," Hikari sighed. 

"How exactly do we deal with the Digimon Kaiser?" Miyako asked, wanting to get on another subject of discussion that wouldn't involve Takeru and Daisuke arguing with one another. 

"Well, I feel that we should--" 

"Yeah, I mean, he stays in the Digital World 24/7 now," Daisuke unintentionally interrupted Iori. "Do you have any ideas TJ?" 

"I really think that we should---" 

"Well, I...HEY, THE NAME IS TK!!" 

"Whatever. Anyway, do you? You have the most experience with Digimon...even more than Hikari-chan." 

"I have no idea what we should do," Takeru said as started to fiddle with his trademark white cap. 

"But---" 

"How about we all go back to the Digital World at night since Ichijouji never comes out at night," Daisuke suggested, "and then we attack when he least expects it!" 

Iori was starting to get annoyed over the fact that he was always ignored. He growled in annoyance a bit, literally, which Miyako noticed. It just hadn't been his day, first he was embarassed by Puppetmon and now he was being ignored. 

"Yo, Iori, what's wrong?" 

"Oh, nothing, I just---" 

"I don't know, Daisuke-kun," Takeru stated, interrupting Iori. 

"What's wrong with my plan?" 

"Yeah, I think it's a pretty good idea. The Digimon Kaiser is probably the most vulnerable when it's night time." 

Daisuke gave off a big smile. "You do, Kari?!? Wow!! Top _that_ TE!!" 

"Do we _have _to fight him? He's just too _cute _to fight!" 

"I agree with Takeru-san!" Iori finally managed to get out. 

"Oh really?" Daisuke asked. 

"The Digimon Kaiser is pretty smart. How do we know that he won't be expecting us to try and attack him and find his headquarters?" 

"Ahh, whatever," Daisuke laughed, not really taking in what Iori had said. "Let us older kids handle this." He then turned to Takeru and asked, "Why shouldn't we go at night?" 

"I know that sneaking out would be difficult for me," Miyako said. "I don't have a late curfew like my sisters and brother and they would notice if I snuck out." 

Takeru gave his reason, which was the same exact thing Iori had said. 

"Good point," Miyako and Hikari nodded. 

"I guess you're right, but isn't it worth a _try_ to go back at night?" Daisuke asked. 

"How about we ask Izumi-senpai what he thinks?" Miyako proposed. 

Izumi Koushirou was also another Chosen Child, but an older one, like the 14 year old Taichi and Yamato. He's very smart and a whiz with computers. He's 13 years old and is now in his first year at Odaiba Junior High School. He hangs around the old Elementary school every now and then to visit the old Computer Club, which Miyako is now president of, and to help them out. Before he left Odaiba Elementary, he used to be president of the Computer Club and Miyako used to help him run it. 

The youngest boy screamed in slight irritation. They all turned and asked, "What's wrong?" 

"What does it matter!" Iori snapped at them angrily. "Upamon, we're going home!" 

Upamon was eating some of the food that Miyako had left there before they went to the Digital World. She knew that they would be pretty hungry when they got back from battling controlled Digimon. Miyako normally always brought food from her family's convenience store. 

Iori went and picked up Upamon and stormed out of the computer lab and stomped home in annoyance. 

"I wonder what's eating him," Daisuke muttered. 

"Yeah, he's been acting a bit edgy lately," Miyako observed. 

Everyone shrugged. 

"It must be a little kid thing," Daisuke concluded. "He'll probably get over it." 

"Yeah, it must be; besides, Miyako-san and I can check on him later. We _do_ live in the same apartment building." 

"So, what's our new plan of attack?" Hikari asked. 

Miyako sat in front of the computer and started to look for other areas that contained Dark Towers. 

"We better think of something and fast. What do we do? There are still lots of areas to cover with Dark Towers. Maybe we _should _go at night," Miyako informed them. 

"No way, it would be too dangerous to go at night," Takeru said, deadset against going at night. "I'm sure Ichijouji has lots of troops around just waiting for us if we went at night, and the most dangerous of Digimon always appear at night." 

"You know, I'm pooped," Hikari slightly yawned. "I think I'm ready to go home now. How about we pick up tomorrow afterschool?" 

The others agreed and nodded. 

"We'll go and tell Iori when we get home," Miyako said as she stood up from the computer, shutting it down. 

All the kids, along with their Digimon, partners, left and headed towards their homes, Daisuke walking home with Hikari, Takeru walking home with Miyako... 


	4. The Digimon Kaiser's Plan!

*Hi again...time for another part for you. I do not own any of these characters...blah, blah, blah. Now on with this fic.* 

Part 4: The Digimon Kaiser's Plan! 

Back in the Digital World... 

"DRAT! Those annoying kids always seem to ruin my plans!" 

A small, green worm-like Digimon called Wormmon, looked up at the boy who had just spoken, a gentle, yet pleading look in his eye, as if he wanted to seem accepted by this boy. 

"Would some nice milk and cookies cheer you up Ken-chan?" Wormmon asked in his same old, cutsie squeaky voice. 

"No, milk and cookies would _not_ cheer me up!" the boy responded irritably. He then cracked his whip. "And _don't_ call me Ken! I am the Digimon Kaiser to you!!" 

The dark-haired boy started typing on his unusually large computer. 

"What could I do to get rid of them once and for all," he murmured as he concentrated on his work. 

"But I thought that this particular battle wasn't important to you, which is why you sent out Woodmon and that Bakemon." 

"It wasn't, but I didn't know that any of their other Digimon could fly with the exception of Holsmon, Pegasmon, and Nefertimon! I also knew that they would be all tired out from battling, meaning that they wouldn't be able _to_ evolve into their armored forms, which leaves me open to attack; but _no_, they _had_ to have a Digimon with a form that isn't armored that could fly!" He then muttered in annoyance, "Stupid kids." 

He was watching the fierce battle that he had with them earlier. He had the entire thing monitored the entire time and was now rewatching it. He even saw where and when they had entered the Digital World. 

"What could their weaknesses be..." 

"Um...Ken-chan," Wormmon spoke up timidly and a bit fearfully, "wouldn't it be easier to become friends with the other Chosen Children?" 

"Only _you_ would say someting _stupid_ like that! I'm too superior to associate with the likes of them! Now make yourself useful by shutting up!" 

He sat there and started to think. 

"Um...Ken-chan..." 

"I _told_ you not to speak!" 

"But master, I have an idea." 

"_Stupid_ Digimon don't come up with 'good ideas'," Ken snapped. 

"But I _do_ have a good idea." 

"My patience is starting to grow thin..."   
****   
RP: It wasn't already?   
****   
"...so hurry up and tell me of your _worthless_ idea." 

"Well, since you couldn't keep their Digimon from evolving and from messing up your plans, why not find a way to keep them from coming here at all? That way they won't ruin your plans for taking over the Digital World." 

"What a _brilliant_ idea!" 

"Really?" Wormmon asked, his morale and esteem rising slightly. "You really think so, master?" 

"Glad I thought of it." 

"I should've known better," Wormmon muttered, his head drooped. 

"But not even _I_, the great and handsome Ichijouji Ken, could manage to pull something like _that_ off." 

He sat back down to his giant computer, adjusting the volume so he could hear all that had been said by his enemies. He also made observations on each of them. 

"The two older boys seem to argue when it comes to that annoying girl, whom of which broke the control I had over Andromon a while back. The cute one with the giant glasses seems to be hesitant and keeps mentioning how she doesn't want to fight me. I just may use that to my advantage." He chuckled lightly, realizing how much that could aid him. "Let's see now, that stupid camera girl seems to always try to break up the fights..." 

He then noticed Iori, whose mouth was moving, but no one was really listening to him. He used his computer to see what he was saying, but he could only catch one thing..."WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME!! THIS ISN'T FAIR!!! WHAT CAN I DO FOR ATTENTION!!!" 

Ken got a mischevious grin. 

"Uh oh, you have that look..." 

"Forget trying to take over the Digital World for now! I have to create some more Dark Spirals or Dark Rings; one that is strong enough to control a human; a very _young_ human." He started to laugh "evilly," proud of his latest scheme, staring at a certain, dark haired, irritated boy. 

"I don't get it. Why are you going to make a Dark Spiral or Ring for a small human?" 

"Is it not _obvious_! I am going to use it on one of those annoying kids! Sure they'll attack a Digimon friend to get him back to his normal self when wearing one of my Dark Spirals or Rings, but no _way_ they'll attack a _human _friend!" 

"But which one of the children are you going to put the Dark Spiral on?" 

"The youngest one," Ken decided, pointing to Iori on the screen. "He seems to have an annoyance towards the others, which should make him very vulnerable and make it _incredibly_ easy on me! He also seems to get annoyed easily in general. Look at how he argued with Puppetmon." 

The boy genius brought up the screen, playing everything that had happened when the kids were fighting with Puppetmon and was trying to save Kari. 

"That look of pure hurt," smiled ecstacially, as if he had just received an early birthday gift. "Look at that annoyance on his face, and that revenge!" 

"But sir, the one with the blonde hair seems more angry than the smaller human." 

"I know, but he became annoyed when he saw Puppetmon. He never once looked annoyed or angered towards the others. All of his anger was aimed at Puppetmon. Now that younger one, he showed annoyance and irritability towards his actual friends, which is why I'm going to use him." 

"You are a genius, sir." 

"Naturally," he responded smugly. 

Ken began to rub his chin, trying to figure out what to do to get his plan into action. 

"Now, how will I get the Dark Spiral on him without him realizing it?" The boy thought for a moment, and snapped his fingers. "I GOT IT! I'll make it transparent, like my keyboard, and it'll be _so _powerful that it could control all of the Digimon of the Digital World put together! Ichijouji, you _are_ a genius!" 

"But sir..." 

"WHAT, CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT I AM PLOTTING!!!" 

"Well, sir," Wormmon continued meekly, "I was just wondering, what will you do to lure them here to have the chance to get the Dark Spiral around the human?" 

Ken sighed in annoyance. "You just _had_ to ruin my mood, didn't you?" 

"I'm sorry, sir," Wormmon apologized, cowering, expecting to get hit. 

"Never mind, I have an idea. I will use their Digimon friends." 

Wormmon sighed out in relief when he saw that Ken wasn't going to hit him. 

"Lets see, now who were they again? Agumon, Piyomon, Gabumon, Gomamon, Tentomon, and Palmon! That'll get them here for sure! Just one of their Digimon friends'll do, but all of them'll be better!!" 

"But how---" 

"Even Digimon rest, but _this_ boy genius doesn't!" 

"That's true." 

"I'll send out my most powerful Digimon to capture them!" 

'I wonder which Digimon he will send out,' Wormmon inquiried in thought. 

"Now to try and connect with his Digivice. I must find the frequency to it..." 

"Why?" 

"Imbecile!" Ken yelled, irritated over Wormmon's question, which would require him to answer it. "That's what's going to attract the Dark Spiral to him! I'll program this Dark Spiral to home onto his Digivice wave." 

"But how if he's in the real world, master?" 

"Every time they use their D-3s for anything, they give off a signal, and those signals and frequencies are automatically saved and stored onto my computer. They armor evolve their Digimon a lot, so I have a lot of information here." 

"But will you know which one is which?" 

Ken brought up another screen, which had a photo of all of the Armor Digimon the kids currently had and have used: Fladramon, Lighdramon, Holsmon, Shurimon, Pegasmon, Nefertimon, and Digmon. There was a meter under each photo, all full.   
  
"Every time a Digimon armor evolves using a Digimental, their information, based on the armor, goes to the corresponding Digimon. See, the meter under Digmon is green. Since Digmon's is green, I know that that's the frequency I must try to trace back to Iori's D-3." 

Wormmon blinked dumbfoundedly, not understanding anything Ken had just explained to him. He just nodded, and acted as if he understood. 

"Well, master, I hope that no one will knock down your Dark Tower to break the human out of your control." 

"Interesting that you said that."   
  
"Huh?" 

"I can't have that now, can I?" 

"I suppose not." 

"To _really_ throw them off, I'll put up a Dark Tower anyway!" 

"But how will that help? They'll be able to destroy it." 

Ken ignored the Digimon's statement and continued on. 

"If he starts to act strange like one of the Digimon being controlled by a Dark Spiral or Ring, then they'll think that they'll have to destroy a Dark Tower in order to get him back to normal, but that will not be the case! The source of his being controlled will be right here from my own computer! _Not_ a Dark Tower!" 

"Can I help, Ken-chan?" Wormmon begged. 

"What could a worthless Digimon like _you_ possibly do?" Ken snapped. 

"Anything if you let me try." 

"Well, okay. I'm going to be busy with this program so you can be responsible for getting those Digimon for me." 

Wormmon watched as Ken brought up a screen on one of his monitors with a big map. 

"These are the areas that they are in and are _supposedly _protecting. Go there and bring them back here and lock them up. Also, you'll need this..." 

Ken pushed a button on his keyboard and a compartment opened up beside his computer, revealing a dark object. Ken picked up the object, which resembled one of his Dark Towers, only smaller, and tossed it to Wormmon. 

"I just finished this. It keeps Digimon from evolving. This is only a smaller model of one. I'll tie it around your neck so that if any Digimon come near you that they'll devolve to a level just as low as yours so it'll be easy for you to defeat them. Even _you_ should be able to defeat a Child (Rookie) Digimon, especially since this mini Dark Tower'll leave them feeling weak with any attack that you may use on them!" 

"I won't let you down, Ken-chan!" 

"You better not if you know what's good for you, you worthless insect!" He cracked his whip threateningly. "And that's Digimon Kaiser to you!" 

"Yes sir." 

"Take my MegaSeadramon with you. I'm sure you'll need some better transportation other than your slow slithering." 

Wormmon took off to carriy out Ken's order to get the original Chosen Children's Digimon...   
****   
Iori was walking home angry and annoyed. 

"Not fair..." he muttered as he stood at the crosswalk, waiting for the Don't Walk sign to change to Walk. 

Upamon was hidden under Iori's shirt. Sure Iori looked like he had one too many cakes, but that was the only way he could get around without Upamon being noticed by others. 

"It's getting hot under here!" 

"Never listen to me..." Iori continued to mutter as he stomped across the street in a huff. 

"I'll listen to you!" Upamon shouted from underneathe Iori's short-sleeved beige shirt. "Aren't you home yet! I'm hungry!" 

"When aren't you!" Iori snapped. "You're _always_ hungry!" 

After that statement, Upamon didn't say anything else. He just remained under the boy's shirt, continuing to listen to his mutters.   


Iori finally made his way home and went straight to his room (shouting hi to his mother quickly), shutting the door behind him, and dropping Upamon down on his bed. 

"Is something wrong?" Upamon asked, rolling himself over so he could sit upright. When Iori had dropped him, he landed onhis side. "You seem a bit edgy." 

"Sorry, I'm just so _angry_!" Iori fumed as he paced back and forth in his room. 

"You should _really_ learn to control your temper..."   
****   
RP: I know...I liked that line from the show...Iori telling Armadimon he needs to control his temper and then how Iori contradicted his own advice and lost his with the Digimon Kaiser and threw that stick at him. I thought that was _such_ a cute scene. I always did like those ironic situations.   
****   
"How come you're so angry anyway?" 

Iori stopped pacing and sat down on his bed beside Upamon. He then heaved out a sigh. 

"Just because I'm the youngest of the group, the others never listen to me or take me as seriously as they should. Even when I said _not _to trust Puppetmon, they wouldn't listen to me and what did he do? He double-crossed us!" 

"Maybe you should make yourself heard." 

"I do, but I still get ignored." 

Upamon started to sniff the air. "I don't know what's being cooked, but I wouldn't mind some!" 

"It's probably shrimp with rice again." 

Mrs. Hida called for Iori to eat dinner. Iori, much calmer than what he was earlier, obeyed and made his way towards the dinner table. After he ate, he grabbed some food for Upamon and took it back to his room, which Upamon ate happily. He always enjoyed Mrs. Hida's cooking.   


Later on, Miyako and Takeru stopped by to see how Iori was doing. 

"You just stormed off, we were wondering if you were alright," Miyako told her young friend. 

"Yeah, you seemed pretty steamed." 

"Oh, I'm all right, I just wasn't feeling too well," the younger boy lied. "Would you guys like some of my mother's ohagi or some cookies or something?" 

"Sure!" Miyako accepted for both her and Takeru. "Your mother makes the _best_ desserts, snacks, and meals in the world!" 

After they ate, the two left and headed back to their homes. It was getting pretty late and it _was_ a school night. 

"Well, let's get some sleep, Upamon," Iori said while stretching. 

"Yeah, sleep!" 

Right at that moment, Iori's Digivice, which was seated on the stand next to his bed, along with his Kendo equipment, started to make a beeping noise, like it was homing onto something. 

"I wonder what's wrong with this," Iori said as he picked up the small device to inspect it. 

It was now glowing and shaking. Upamon shrugged...I mean...wait, does Upamon even HAVE shoulders? (>_); 

Iori shrugged it off since something else came to mind. "You know, I wonder why Takeru-san seemed a bit distant and upset when he came over with Miyako-san, even though he seemed to hide it fairly well." 

"Maybe he was hungry and didn't get all that he wanted to eat." 

Iori laughed a bit at his friend's statement. 

"Is that all you _ever_ think about...food?" 

"Yep, especially with your mom's cooking," Upamon smiled with a nod. 

Iori smiled at Upamon about to climb into his bed, but his Digivice started to act up again. 

"Maybe we should figure that thing out." 

"Nah, I'm too sleepy," Iori shook his head, setting it back down. "We'll worry about it tomorrow. Maybe Miyako-san can figure it out and while we're at it, maybe we can figure out why Hikari-san had that weird glow coming from her." He then yawned. "Oyasumi, Upamon." 

"G'night Iori."   
****   
Takeru laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He just couldn't sleep. He was thinking about the pointless argument he had had with Daisuke earlier over Hikari's being kidnapped and was feeling a bit bad over it. 

"Is something wrong Takeru?" 

"No." 

Patamon wasn't convinced. He said it rather quickly, as if to get off the subject. 

"It sure seems like it. You've been quiet and looked upset ever since you came back from Iori's place." 

"I'm fine, okay." 

"Takeru, you're hiding something." 

TK knew he couldn't hide anything from Patamon so he decided to tell him what was on his mind. 

"Well," he started, sitting up, "Patamon, I was just thinking about today." 

"What about it? That stuff that happened with Puppetmon?" Patamon asked. "I know it must've been tough for you to have to face him again after all that he did to you, but you broke free of him and got that mallet of his! You ought to be happy about that." 

"No, that's not it," Takeru responded a bit slowly. "I'm glad that he's now gone. Maybe those bad nightmares of mine will go away." He then thought, 'Now if I could only get rid of my Devimon nightmares...' 

'I never knew he had nightmares about Puppetmon,' Patamon thought staring at Takeru. "Then what is it? If it isn't about your encounter with Puppetmon then what else could it be?" 

The boy sighed before he explained himself. 

"Well...it's just that argument I had today...Daisuke was right." 

"Huh?" 

"It _was_ my fault that Hikari-chan got caught by the Ichijouji! I was the one that started that argument with him today because I was feeling so guilty. I knew it wasn't his fault. I was just looking for someone else to put the blame on." 

"No it wasn't! It wasn't your fault _or _Daisuke's." 

"Yes it was! Because of me, she was almost killed! If it weren't for you and Tailmon," he lowered his head, "she would've _never_ gotten saved!" 

"It wasn't your fault that she got caught." 

"Well, maybe you're right about that, but it _was_ my fault that I started that fire. She told me to stay back, but I didn't listen to her! She tried to warn me, but I didn't listen! I rushed right in without thinking about the consequences!" 

"Well, um, everything is all right now!" Patamon smiled, trying his best to cheer the boy up, unsure of what to say exactly. 

"Yeah, I guess," Takeru responded routinely to get off of the subject. He really didn't believe that everything was "all right." He still felt responsible for all that happened. 

TK started thinking for a moment. 

"I wonder how Tailmon evolved to Angewomon. Hikari sacrificed her crest power just like the rest of us and you evolving past your adult (champion) level is very difficult for you all to do now." 

"I don't know," the chubby Digimon shrugged. "Maybe that weird light that was shining around her had something to do with it. Tailmon _did_ say that she felt as if she could because of that weird light coming from Hikari's Digivice, and it left the rest of us feeling totally energized, but the light was so bright. It was unreal. Maybe when Hikari is sad or scared, her light trait takes over or something." 

Takeru shrugged. 

Patamon started to yawn. 

"I'm starting to get sleepy, Takeru." 

"Yeah...same here. I'll see you in the morning." 

"G'night Takeru." 

Patamon fell right on to sleep. Takeru didn't, though. He was still blaming himself for that trigger he set off when they tried to save Hikari and also trying to figure out how Tailmon was able to evolve without Kari having her crest powers, like they had once had back in the old days. After a while, he finally fell into a deep slumber... 


	5. Iori's Digivice!

*I hope I'm doing okay so far. As always, I do not own any of these characters and places. A bunch of other folks do.* 

Part 5: Iori's Digivice! 

It was early the next morning and Iori, along with Takeru and Miyako, were on their way to school. While walking, he started telling them about what had happened that previous night. 

"Hey, did anything strange happen to your Digivices last night?" 

"Nope, no trouble with mine," Takeru responded as he walked. 

"Uh-uh," Miyako shook her head. "Why do you ask?" 

"Well, mine was glowing and vibrating last night right before I went to sleep." 

"Did Armadimon evolve to his adult (champion) form, or better yet, somehow skip and go straight to perfect (ultimate)?" Takeru asked. 

"Excuse me?" 

"I guess not," the blonde muttered. 

"Maybe Izumi-senpai and I could take a look at it," Miyako suggested. "Both of us know how these Digivices work, pretty much, so we should be able to figure something out." 

"If anyone can figure out what's wrong with it, you two sure can," Takeru laughed. 

"I've been wondering, what do you think that weird light was yesterday coming from Hikari-chan?" 

"I have no idea, Miyako-san," Takeru answered. "I spent a long time thinking about that last night, trying to figure it out. None of our Digimon should be able to evolve past their adult levels since Hikari-chan, me, and the rest of the older kids, don't have our crest powers anymore so that they'd have that extra energy boost _to_ evolve to the next level. Sure they can evolve, but it would be very difficult for them to do since we don't have our crests anymore. 

"Maybe what Patamon said was right." 

"What did Patamon say?" Miyako asked. 

"He said that maybe, somehow, her light trait is a lot stronger than we all thought." 

"Do you think it could happen again?" Iori questioned. 

"It seemed like a once in a lifetime thing to me," Miyako noted. 

"Yeah, you're probably right," Takeru slowly nodded. 

"But isn't it weird how Hikari-chan hasn't mentioned anything about what happened yesterday after we got back from the Digital World? I know I would be asking tons of questions!" 

"I guess she was too tired to worry about it," Takeru replied with a shrug, even though Miyako wasn't the only one who had been curious about such a thing. He too had wondered about that himself. Takeru looked ahead of him as he walked and noticed a short-haired girl. "That looks like Hikari." 

Iori, noticing that the girl wasn't alone, saw another figure just a few paces ahead of them. "The person beside Hikari-san looks like Daisuke-san." 

"I really have to apologize to her," Takeru said aloud. 'Daisuke-kun too for the accusation.' 

Takeru ran off, leaving Miyako and Iori behind. 

"Apologize?" Iori and Miyako asked in unison, watching the boy run off.   
****   
"…don't you think that's a funny story?" Daisuke finished up with a laugh. 

Kari wasn't really interested since she was a bit preoccupied, trying to figure out all that had happened yesterday. 

"Sure…" 

"I scored the winning goal!" Daisuke then smiled proudly. "Maybe I'll even do better than your brother some day! He said that I'm already a really good player." 

"I don't think anyone is better than Sora-san and my brother," Hikari smiled. 

"Well, Sora can't be all _that_ good a soccer player like she used to, since you said that she plays Tennis now, and that she's in the Tennis Club at Odaiba Junior High." 

"You never know; she is a pretty good athlete. I bet if you give her a soccer ball and put her out on the field, she'll play just as well as she did a couple of years ago when she and my brother used to play all of the time for Odaiba Elementary's Soccer Club." 

"We should challenge them to a match! Me, you, Miyako, and TZ..." 

"TK..." 

"Whatever, and we play against Taichi-senpai, Sora, and it's hard to believe that Koushirou-san used to be in the soccer club with the way he stays on the computer…anyway, who else plays?" 

"Hmm," Hikari pondered, "Yamato-san might, but he's more of a musician than a sportsman, and Takeru-kun plays basketball a lot, not soccer, as you already know. I also agree with you about Koushirou-san. I really don't remember seeing him play much when I used to go my brother and Sora's games, but then again, I think I _do_ remember a redhead as the goalie, so maybe that was him." 

"Maybe he was good at computerized soccer," Daisuke joked. 

"Sounds about right to me," Hikari laughed. "My brother and Sora were two of the best Soccer players ever to attend Odaiba Elementary and won many trophies for our school." 

"Now I'm one of the best, and I hope to win lots of awards for our school." 

"With the way you practice, I'm sure you will." 

"I'm sure too! No wait, I _know_ I will!" 

"Very confident, aren't we?" the girl said with a smile. 

"Yeah, I guess so." Daisuke took in a deep breath and decided to get a bit daring and compliment his friend, especially since no one was there to mess him up. "So, um, Hikari-chan, you look very nice today." 

"Why, thank you!" 

"No wait, I'm sorry for lying to you just now," Daisuke retorted uneasily and almost regrettably. "You don't look nice to day." 

"What?!" Hikari asked in disbelief, surprised that Daisuke of all people would literally say something nice about her, and then in the same breath, insult her. "How could---" 

"You look nice every day, not just today," Daisuke interrupted before Hikari could get another word out. 

"That's very nice of you to say, Daisuke-kun." 

'This is my chance,' Daisuke inwardly praised, 'and TC isn't around to mess things up!' 

"TK!!" a voice yelled from out of nowhere, which obviously belonged to the tall, blonde male of their new Chosen Children group. 

"Whatever!" Daisuke scoffed with his arms folded. He then came to a realization. "Hey, wait a minute!! Takeru's not in this scene, and he can't read minds!" 

"It's a bad, onrunning gag used by RP," Hikari explained to the goggle boy. "Read any of her Pokémon fics and you'll see what I mean." 

"Um, yeah," the boy sweat dropped with slit-shaped eyes. 

After he got over the unnecessary gag thrown in by RP, he started to sweat a bit as he tried to get enough courage to speak up to Hikari in a more serious manner and not as is usual, bumbling, goofy self. 

"So, I was, um, wondering, that is, if you would like to, well---" 

"HEY, HIKARI!!!" a person called, running up to both Daisuke and Hikari. 

"Ooh, Takeru," Hikari responded, happy to see her friend. 

"Hey, I just wanted to---" Takeru managed to get out, between breaths. 

"Nice timing, TD," Daisuke interrupted jealously, and annoyingly as he crossed his arms. 

"TK!!!" 

"Whatever. Besides, stop being so rude!" Daisuke argued. "Can't you see that Hikari and I are in the middle of an important discussion!" 

"We were?" Hikari asked innocently…literally. 

Daisuke face-faulted from the girl's response. 

"Hey, what's happening?" 

Takeru got a nervous look and then spoke up. 

"I just wanted to apologize...for-for yesterday." 

"Apologize for what?" 

"For being stubborn and rushing right in. You could've been killed if it weren't for me!" 

Hikari gave him a look meaning, "What are you talking about?" Takeru continued on. 

"You told me to stay back, but I didn't listen," Takeru sighed. "I hit the trigger and I was the one who started the fire because of it!" 

"That's okay," the girl smiled. "I know you meant well. You were just determined and anxious to help me." 

"Oh really!" Takeru asked in surprise, not expecting the young bearer of light to be so quick to forgive him. "You're not mad at me or anything?" 

"Of course not!" Hikari assured him. "Daisuke-kun, Miyako-san, and Iori-kun probably would've done the same thing. You just beat them to it by getting to me first." 

"Boy, run off and leave us, why don't ya!" a female voice called. 

"Oh, gomen Miyako-san, Iori-kun," Takeru apologized, scratching the back of his head.   
****   
RP: Gomen means "sorry"*   
****   
"Who invited all of _you_ here!" Daisuke demanded, still annoyed some. He then inwardly muttered, "I can _never_ get alone with Hikari no matter how hard I try! They're always around!" 

"We're on our way to school," Iori stated as matter of fact like. 

"Yeah, see that building over there with the students and the teachers," Miyako pointed. 

"Ohh!!" Daisuke grumbled. 

Miyako ignored Daisuke's unusually grumpy self, and started to tell him and Hikari what Iori had said earlier about his having trouble with his D-3. 

"Way weird," Daisuke said, his temper much more relaxed than what it was a short moment ago. "Did anything happen to Upamon, like a strange evolution or something?" 

"That's the strangest thing about it, nothing like that happened," Miyako answered for the small boy, who sighed a bit. Iori hated it when Miyako would constantly talk for him, especially when he was very capable of doing so himself. "I'm going to send Izumi-senpai an e-mail time we get to school to let him know what's going on." 

"Can't go wrong there," Hikari said. "He's the perfect person to ask for help from." 

"That's exactly what Takeru-kun said," Miyako stated as the group made their way towards their school doors…   


The day went on as usual until the school day ended. They all met in the computer lab, like they always did, along with their Digimon. Koushirou had gotten Miyako's e-mail and came by. He was now looking over the Digivice along with Miyako. 

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary," Miyako said as she studied Iori's D-3, comparing it to hers and the others. 

Izzy stood up and walked over by the classroom door, looking as if he was in deep thought, rubbing his chin. 

"Neither do I," he responded. "I would keep it for further study, but you need it." 

"Maybe he pushed a button on it that you missed," Daisuke insisted. 

"I can assure you that I didn't---" Iori started to say. 

"That must be it!" Takeru unintentionally interrupted. "If the two technological computer geniuses can't figure it out, then it _must_ be nothing." 

"Maybe," Miyako shrugged. 

"But I---" 

"So, what's up for now?" Hikari asked, oblivious to Iori's trying to talk. 

"Maybe we better check out the Digital World to see what's going on there and decide on which spot to destroy a Dark Tower in today," Miyako suggested. 

"Good idea," Koushirou nodded. "I'll---" 

Right at that moment, a pink-haired girl with stars decorating her hair, wearing a white skirt, a pair of platform shoes, and a red, white, and blue mid-driff with a golden star in the middle, ran in the classroom screaming, "Am I too late!" and ran right into Koushirou knocking the both of them down... 


	6. The Pink Haired Girl and the Bluehaired ...

*Here's another part for you. Now, I do not own any of these characters, blah, blah, blah, etc.* 

Part 6: The Pink-Haired Girl and the Blue-Haired Boy's Identities Revealed! 

"Oh, Izumi-senpai," Miyako called in concern. "Are you all right?" 

"Yeah, I'm okay," Koushirou said while rubbing his head, the pink-haired girl still on him, "but who is this girl?" 

A tall, blue-haired boy wearing a blue uniform jacket, a white dress shirt, and a pair of off-white pants, ran in behind her saying, "Wait up!" After reaching the classroom, the blue-haired boy noticed the pink-haired girl pinning down Izzy. 

"You just couldn't wait to see Koushirou, huh," the blue-haired boy laughed. "I didn't even know that he was going to be here." 

"Kido-san!" 

"Iori-kun, you're more polite than what Koushirou was when we first met him, but you can just call me Jyou." 

Jyou helped the girl up and she stood up, brushing herself off and putting her hair back into place. She gave Jyou a quick hug and a "thanks" for helping her up. She then extended her hand to Koushirou and helped him up and smiled sweetly. Koushirou stared with wide eyes in surprise. 

"Mimi-san, is-is that you?!" the redhead asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here!?" 

Izzy hadn't seen Mimi like Takeru and his friends had so he didn't know of her change in wardrobe, hair, etc. Well, for one, he was used of her tannish-blondish hair instead of it being a pinkish, strawberry blondish color. 

"Oh, Koushirou," Mimi smiled. "Hi, I haven't seen you in such a long time!" She then giggled a bit. "I can actually talk to you face to face now without having to look down." 

Koushirou gave the girl a small look of annoyance. He knew that he wasn't the tallest boy in the world, but she didn't have to remind him of it. 

Three years earlier when they had really first met - even though they had the same class, they didn't really associate with one another until their adventure in the Digital World and only knew of each other - Izzy was very short compared to her. He was barely taller than TK and Kari, Kari being taller than TK, and they were both eight back then. 

Koushirou then started to lighten up and remembered that this was Mimi, someone you _just_ couldn't get annoyed with or get mad at and stay annoyed or mad at. No matter where she went or whom she met, she seemed to have that effect on them and they act all nice around her. 

"Sorry for running into you like that," Mimi apologized. "I was just in a real hurry." 

"Hurry isn't the word! You were sprinting like you were participating for a triathlon or something!" Jyou whistled. 

Tachikawa Mimi, who is 13 years old, is also another Chosen Child from three years earlier. She moved to America and kept in touch with her old friends in Odaiba through phone and e-mail. She visited once before and met Iori, Daisuke, and Miyako, whom of which idolized her, but was a bit envious over her having such good looks and that almost all the boys thought she was pretty. 

Kido Jyou is also another Chosen from three years earlier. He's 15 years old and is always studying and is in his last year of Junior High. His dream is to become a doctor. 

"What are you doing here in Odaiba?" Hikari asked. 

"Yeah, I thought that you were supposed to be back in New York, in America," Miyako added. 

"Why are the _both_ of you here, actually?" Takeru asked. 

"Yeah, what's going on?" Daisuke queried. 

"I don't know why," Jyou started as he took out his Digivice, which was an older model compared to the newer Chosen Children's, "but something is wrong with Gomamon." 

"Yeah, I have the same feeling about Palmon. I'm here on vacation. I was going to tell you all, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet," Mimi bashfully responded. "The only person that knows I'm here is Sora. I called her when I arrived her last night." 

"You could've sent me an e-mail!" Koushirou said, getting a bit hysterical. "We always send each other e-mail! I mean, I haven't seen you in such a long time. You look so…so _different_ now!" 

"Chill out, Koushirou," Mimi said, smiling sweetly like she always does. She then gave him a playful wink and said, "Maybe I was trying to surprise you." 

"An e-mail _still_ would've been nice," Koushirou muttered under his breath. 

"Now, I was relaxing, taking a nice hot soothing bath, just like when we were in that mansion created by Devimon before we all got split up---" 

"Oh yeah, I remember that. You ended finding Tentomon and me in that old ruin." 

"Yeah, and you ignored me the entire time and if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten lost in that giant maze and almost killed by Kentarumon (Centarumon)!" Mimi argued, causing Koushirou to cower down some. 

"Um…sorry?" Koushirou apologized with a nervous sweat drop. He then tried his best to change the subject abruptly. "Well, um, at least we got back in time to fight Devimon!" 

"That's true, and we saw cute little Patamon evolve to Angemon for the first time," Mimi smiled, patting Patamon on the head. 

"That was one tough battle," Koushirou recalled. 

"Who's Devimon?" Daisuke asked. 

"Another Digimon I never want to remember or encounter again!" Takeru darkly muttered, the same look he had just that previous day when he was ready to literally kill Puppetmon, which Iori noticed. 

"Don't tell me that this Digimon was trying to kill you too!" Miyako said in surprise. 

The boy nodded, his harsh expression softening. 

"But thanks to Patamon, he evolved and saved my life…but in the process, lost his own." 

"Don't worry about that, Takeru. I was reborn and you took good care of me when I was in that Digitama (Digiegg)." 

"Thanks again, buddy," Takeru said while hugging his flying companion. 

"Sure thing, Takeru!" 

"Seems that you would have a big fear of Digimon with the bad experiences you've had." 

Takeru shrugged at Iori's comment while Mimi continued with her story. 

"Like I was saying, while I was taking my nice hot bath at the hotel, I got this strange feeling that something was wrong," Mimi continued. "My Digivice then started to blink." 

"I was on my home to study…"   
****   
RP: Man, when isn't he! Joe needs to be in the show more!!!   
****   
"…when I had the feeling that something was wrong. My Digivice started blinking like it did when Gomamon was in trouble before. 

"On my way here, I ran into Mimi-kun and we both came here together." He then gave a shy smile. "I didn't mind bumping into her, though. I haven't seen her in a long time." 

"That's weird about your Digivices blinking," Takeru stated. "We haven't received any distress signals, or messages, or anything like that." 

Before anyone could comment, a frown appeared on Izzy's face. He too now sensed something was wrong, just like Mimi and Jyou had. He then dug through his pants pocket and took out his Digivice. He noticed that it was blinking. 

"Oh no! Tentomon! Something is wrong! I _know_ it!" 

"Hey guys, look," Miyako called, motioning for them to join her. While Mimi and Jyou were telling their stories, she decided to check out the different areas that they could go to in the Digital World. 

Everyone gathered round to see what Miyako had discovered while looking at the map of the Digital World on the computer. 

"There are two Dark Towers here in this area," the female computer whiz pointed. 

"It looks like a desert or something," Hikari noted. 

"My Palmon wouldn't be in the desert! She would be in a woodsy or forest-like area, protecting it." 

"Neither would Gomamon. He would be someplace cold or either around a body of water." 

"There's not telling where Tentomon may be," Koushirou muttered. "He just hasn't been himself lately." 

He thought back to when he had last seen him and how Tentomon was obsessing over a tree, which was his tree house, and warned them not to go near it. 

"Well, what are we doing sitting around here blabbing for!" exclaimed an energetic Daisuke. "Let's get going!" 

'I don't think this is such a good idea. What if two Dark Towers make it so that even _our_ Digimon can't evolve?' 

"Are you okay, Iori?" Miyako asked, noticing the pondering look that Iori was now wearing. 

"Oh, I was just wondering about the two Dark Towers. If there are two---" 

"Enough talking, let's go!" Daisuke urged, holding his D-3 up to the computer screen. "Digital Gate open!" 

"Ignored again," the young martial artist sighed. 

A bright light shone out from the screen and the five kids and their Digimon, along with three extra friends, entered the gate that led to the Digital World. Time they went through the gate, a handsome, blonde-haired boy, a girl wearing a white tennis uniform, and a boy with dark brown hair ran into the classroom. 

"Oh no!" the boy with the dark brown hair groaned. 

"They're gone!" the girl frowned. 

"We're too late!" the blonde sighed. 

"It's all my fault that we missed them!" the brown-haired boy said, shame in his voice. "I'm sorry Sora, Yamato…" 

"It's not your fault, Taichi, that you got a detention," Sora said, hoping to calm him down some. 

Takenouchi Sora was the girl that Hikari and Daisuke mentioned earlier. She's 14 and was a Chosen three years earlier as well. She and Taichi have been friends for a long time and played Soccer a lot when they were younger. Now she plays tennis. 

"Only irresponsible people get detentions," Yamato muttered in annoyance. 

"You were there too!" Taichi argued. 

"That's because almost the entire eighth grade class had to serve it for _some_body's immature practical joke! I don't even have the same _class_ as you and I got a detention just because I have her as an instructor too!" He then glared at the now goggle-less boy, his arms folded. "Because of _you_, Sora and me were stuck with detentions! I had to blow off a band practice because of you!" 

"I missed Tennis practice today, oh well," Sora gloomily sighed. "Well, at least Koushirou-kun is a grade under us and didn't have to worry about serving a detention since he doesn't have the same class and instructor as we do." 

"Well, I didn't think I was going to get caught putting that lizard in our boring Science Teacher's desk, and I didn't think she would've given us all detentions for something _I_ did!" 

"It doesn't matter," Sora said, wanting to get off of the subject. "Let's just hope Piyomon (Biyomon), Agumon, Gabumon, and the other Digimon are okay." 

"I hope whatever is wrong with our Digimon, that Takeru and the others can handle it," Taichi said, still wishing he could go to the Digital World. He really hated the fact that he and the other older members of the group couldn't go unless with one of the younger, newer kids of the group since they all had D-3s. 

"I guess we could wait around for them," Yamato suggested. 

"Wish we could've gone along with them…" 

"Don't worry, Sora," replied a confident Taichi, "we'll just wait around for them here until they get back, or better yet, how about we go get Mimi?" 

"Oh yeah, I told you two that she was back, but I tried calling her before we left school to tell her that we were going to the Digital World, but she wasn't there." 

"So _that's_ what you were doing after detention," Taichi realized. 

"We haven't seen her in so long," Yamato stated. 

"Hikari told me she looks really different now." 

"Maybe this time she'll stay long enough for someone to actually see her," Yamato said. "She just upped and left the last time." 

"Well, her folks had to get back to America the last time, so that's why she couldn't stay too long," Sora explained. 

Yamato dug through his uniform pocket and took out some money. 

"How about we go out for a bite to eat, my treat. If we're lucky, maybe they'll have returned by the time we finish." 

"Wow, your band must be doing very well!" Sora exclaimed. 

"It sure is!" 

"Yep, and I would know since I'm there for every single one of them!" they heard a female voice playfully giggle. 

"Huh?" the three said in unison, looking around. 

"Who's there?" Sora requested. 

They turned to see who had spoken. Standing at the door of the computer lab was a maroon big-haired girl wearing a green uniform blouse and a dark red skirt. Yamato turned a deathly pale color in fear and Tai sweat dropped nervously. Sora could only shrug. 

"NOT JUN!!" the two boys screamed. 

"Who?" 

The girl ran up to Yamato and clung herself to his arm. 

"Hey there, Yamato-kun!" she smiled up at him. 

Yamato screamed. 

"I heard you mention something about going out to eat," Jun said, her smile even bigger. "Do you remember our first date together? It was _so_ romantic!" The girl then thought for a moment and said, "Well, I'm sure it would've been if we would've actually gotten the chance to go."   
****   
RP: For the original, Yamato and Jun never did go on their date together.   
****   
"LET ME OUT OF HERE!! DIGI-GATE OPEN!! I BEG OF YOU…_PLEASE_ OPEN!!" Streaked tears started to pour down Yamato's face as he started to bang on the keyboard. "OPEN, OPEN, OPEN!! IN THE NAME OF ALL DIGIGODS, _PLEASE_ OPEN!!!" 

"You're silly. What's a Digi-gate, cutie?" Jun asked with a giggle. "Wait, I know, you want us to be alone and 'Digi-gate' is just your way of saying it. We can get alone right now if you want." 

"AHHHH!!!!" 

Taichi and Sora sweat dropped at the scene. 

"So that's Motomiya Jun, Yamato's number one fan and the older sister of Daisuke-kun?" Sora asked Taichi in a whisper. 

Tai nodded and grabbed Sora's arm and then Yamato's free arm leading the two out. 

"We're not going out to eat," Taichi lied, "we have some other stuff to take care of." 

"Like what?" 

"Well, um, my cat is stuck in a tree in Odaiba!" 

A loud "thumping" sound was then heard, since both Sora and Yamato face-faulted from Taichi's statement. Jun didn't even really care what he said, and kept on talking. 

"Well, to be completely honest with you guys, I was looking for my brother. Mother wanted me to come here and fetch him since he seems to always be busy after school now, and we both know that it has nothing to do with club activities since he's only in the Soccer Club, and they aren't meeting this week," Jun seriously responded in a non fan-girlish manner, slight worry in her voice. "I've looked all over for him, have you seen him?" 

"Nope, sorry, gotta go!" Yamato responded quickly, wanting Jun to hurry and go away. He had always hated the way Jun acted around him since she acted like such a fan-girl. He knew she was a good person, her concern over her brother showed that, but her constantly wanting to date him was somewhat annoying. 

"How about I come along with you!" the big-haired girl smiled, once again going back to fan-girl mode. She then grabbed onto his arm again. "I'll surely like to go along with you and we could look for him together." 

Matt frowned and sweat dropped. 

"Please…help…me…" Yamato whimpered, the expression on his face priceless. 

"We _would_ take you along, but like I said," Taichi started, "we're going to be really busy…" 

"…yeah, we have some…um…shopping to do for um…" Sora looked over at Taichi, hoping he could come up with some kind of an excuse, "…Taichi?" 

"My, um, mother's birthday. YEAH…her birthday!" 

"Yeah, that's right!" Sora nervously agreed. 

"And we don't have the room for an extra person!" Taichi added on to the lie. "Sorry." 

Sora gave Jun a quick bow and an uneasy, apologetic smile and said, "Sayonara." 

All three of them ran off, Yamato a bit dazed, especially since he had to tear Jun off of his arm before running off. 

"Thank you...thank you...thank you Taichi...Sora. How can I ever repay you!" 

Sora and Tai got a mischievous look and said together, "Dinner at the most expensive restaurant in town." 

Yamato nearly face-faulted. 

"We're just kidding," Sora assured the boy with a small laugh. "Anywhere that you want." 

"Yeah, as long as it keep our minds off of what's _really_ bothering us." 

The three walked off to find something to do for the next hour or two to keep their minds off of their Digimon friends, whom they thought were in terrible trouble... 


	7. Piyomon's Escape!

*Hi again. Here's another part of my wonderful Digimon story...well, maybe not THAT great. (-_-). Don't forget to leave reviews and comments and let me know what you think. You can email me at either, pikato8270@aol.com or either SSJupiter@aol.com (this one preferably). Now, I do not own any of these characters and/or places you would find on the show, in the comics, etc. It also took me a while to put this up because I wanted to re-watch a couple of episodes first, mainly because I didn't remember them and that I didn't want to be completely wrong when describing them or flashing back to it or having someone make reference to it.* 

Part 7: Piyomon's Escape! 

"Come to my world you Digi-losers!" the Digimon Kaiser sat, a large grin spread across his pale face. 

"Um, master, don't you think capturing those Digimon was a little bit harsh?" 

"No I don't! How else would I have gotten them here!" Ken argued irritably and loudly. He then went back to his normal tone of voice. "Well, I must admit, you _did_ make yourself useful and you _did_ do something right for a change. You were able to imprison all six of those Digimon for me." 

"Thank you, Ken-chan!" 

"THAT'S DIGIMON KAISER TO YOU!!" 

"Gomen, Ken-chan." 

"Now get out of my sight! I'm in too good a mood for your pathetic looking face to mess it up!" 

"Yes sir." 

Wormmon left, leaving Ken laughing happily awaiting the Chosen Children to fall into his trap...   
****   
In a matter of mere moments, the eight kids and their Digi-buddies finally made it to the Digital World. 

TK and the others looked around, noticing all the desert and unusually mass amounts of pyramids around them. 

"This place looks familiar," Takeru said. 

"Yeah, it does," Jyou agreed. 

The oldest boy then remembered. 

"I remember now! Etemon! This is where we were when Etemon had Nanomon (Datamon) prisoner and..." 

"...right before that, I found my Crest of Hope!" 

"And let's not forget about Nanomon kidnapping Sora-san and Taichi-san blaming himself for it," Koushirou added. 

"I thought he was going to never stop crying," Jyou said. 

"Hold on here," Daisuke said, trying to make sense of what Jyou and Koushirou were saying. "Taichi-senpai cried? _My_ hero cried just because Sora got kidnapped by some whacked-out Digimon?" 

"He sure did," Koushirou nodded, "but could you really blame him? He took my theory a bit too lightly, which allowed her to get captured." 

"What theory was that?" Iori asked. 

Koushirou explained what he explained to Tai and the others three years earlier about them just being shadow images of themselves and whatever happens to them in the Digital World, would have a direct effect on themselves in the real world. 

"That's an interesting viewpoint," Miyako said. 

"Oh, and remember after Taichi-san saved Sora-san, how he went after Etemon himself, and got taken back to our world along with MetalGreymon!" Takeru added. 

"Oh yeah! He came home. I was sick and couldn't go to summer camp with him that year and I met Koromon for the first time. He was surprised that I knew what a Koromon was and was surprised that I could see all of the Digimon here in our world when others couldn't. He then got that message from you, Koushirou-san." 

"Oh yeah, I told him not to come back to the Digital World and that it would've been a waste of his time if he did." 

"But he didn't listen anyway, and when he came back, he found me…" 

"…and don't forget about me, Takeru!" 

"Of course I wouldn't forget you, buddy, even though we were mad at each other then and you were still Tokomon." 

"Thinking about it now, there weren't these many pyramids the last time we were here," Jyou noted. "They're all over the place this time." 

They started to walk a bit to investigate around, but Mimi started to grow a bit frustrated. 

"I hate the desert!" Mimi complained. "It's awful on your hair!" 

"Our Digimon could be in some kind of danger, and _you're_ worried about your hair?" Koushirou asked in disbelief. 

"Well, I do like looking nice, you know…" 

"Don't I know it," Koushirou muttered as he wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. 

"But it's the heat in general that's bothering me," she said while fanning herself. 

The girl stopped fanning herself and looked over at Izzy, a playful smile spread across her face. She was in the mood to tease him a bit to help get her mind from off of the heat. 

"Hey, Koushirou, I was just wondering, whatever happened to that old girlfriend of yours?" 

The group stopped walking as Izzy looked at her in surprise. He could only respond with "Huh?" in a daze. 

"Girlfriend?!" every asked in surprise. 

"Izumi-senpai has had a girlfriend before? That's so surprising," Miyako could barely say without giving away she was very astonished to hear such news. 'I thought I knew almost everything about him. Could he have really have had a girlfriend before? I wonder what she was like? I bet someone totally opposite me,' she finished up, sighing out a puff of cloudy air. 

"Man, I need to get out more and see what's up with you guys! Koushirou's had a girlfriend!?!" Jyou nudged Koushirou in the side, a grin on his face. One that Taichi probably would've had. "C'mon buddy, I thought we were pals. How could you keep such a secret from us and just let Mimi know?" 

"No, I've never had a girlfriend," Koushirou managed to say after finally coming back to reality. 

Mimi started laughing. 

"What's so funny!" Koushirou demanded of his friend in curiosity. 

"I was talking about that old laptop of yours!" Mimi said between breaths from laughing so hard. "You paid more attention to it than you ever did me or anyone else!" 

Everyone groaned over Mimi's statement. 

"Now that you mention it, he _hasn't_ had it around lately," Takeru said. 

"Yeah, and he would never let anyone touch or use it either," Hikari added. 

"I always wondered what was so special about it and what was on it," Jyou said. 

"Well…I…um…" Koushirou uttered with a nervous blush. 

"Calm down, Koushirou, I was only kidding around," Mimi assured him. 

As they walked, Mimi was telling them more about America. Mimi felt that talking about something else would help to keep her calm and not as worried over Palmon, which was another reason why she had just started teasing Koushirou for no apparent reason. 

"Wow, that's amazing!" Koushirou exclaimed, also wanting to keep his mind on what the young, crest bearer of purity had to say and not of what _could_ be happening to Tentomon and the others. "What else have you done since you've been in America?" 

"I've already told you everything through e-mail or just now." 

"It's still nice to see you again." 

"It's still nice to see you again," Miyako mocked under her breath while rolling her eyes in annoyance. She then muttered, "He's never paid that much attention to me, unless he's helping me with something dealing with the Digital World." 

"What's wrong with you?" Daisuke asked, noticing Miyako's current displeased look. 

"Nothing!" she snapped at the boy. 

"Calm down…man!" 

"I _am_ being calm!" 

"I'll never understand girls," Daisuke said while shaking his head, deciding to ignore Miyako. 

"Hey, Mimi-kun, I've been meaning to ask you about the schools in America. What are they like, and what uniform colors are they stuck with?" Jyou asked. 

"I've never mentioned it?" Mimi asked in surprise. 

Everyone shook their heads. 

"Well, my school doesn't have uniforms, just like most of the public Elementary schools here. In America, public schools don't have them, only private schools do, and most of the time, they don't make it mandatory to wear. There are some public schools with uniforms, but for them, it's usually once or twice a week they have to wear them, or either for special occasions, like maybe picture day, or something like that." 

"I wonder why it's like that?" Jyou asked, great interest in his voice. 

"We all go to public schools; well, except for Jyou-san, and we're stuck with uniforms and we have to wear them everyday," Koushirou said. 

"Well, I studied hard to get into that school of mine's." 

"Yeah, our entire summer break the year we first got taken to the Digital World," Takeru said. 

"Well, I can't become a doctor and keep my family's tradition going or get into really good schools if I don't study hard." 

"I noticed your uniforms for Odaiba Junior High, and green is _definitely_ not my color, well not dark green. Blue either for that matter. Glad I don't have to wear them. Let's see, what else is different about the schools…oh yeah, the years of school are different and the school year is a bit shorter than it is here." Mimi turned to Elementary children of the group. "Let's see, Takeru, Hikari, and Daisuke are all in grade 5 and 11, right?" 

The three nodded. 

"Well, over there, where I am anyway, if you're 11 you're supposed to be in grade 6 and grade 6 is your first year of Junior High School." 

"What a strange system," Hikari said. 

"Little Iori here would be in grade 4 in Elementary and Miyako would be in grade 7 in Junior High." 

"So, what about you?" Koushirou asked. "What grade were you put in? I don't recall your ever mentioning it." 

"I'm in grade 7 in America, same as you, only I'm in my second year of Junior High instead of my first. The 13 year olds over there are normally in grade 8, third, and final, year of Junior High." 

"Wow, that is a difference. What about High School?" Daisuke asked. "When do you start High School in America?" 

"Let's see, 14 year olds start year 9 and that's your first year of High School, or what the Americans like to call it, your 'freshman' year. Your second year is called your 'sophomore' year, your third is called your 'junior' year, and your final year in High School, just like for here, is called your 'senior' year." 

"Nice names for the ninth and tenth years there," Takeru laughed. "Especially the freshman one." 

"So that means that Jyou-san would already be in High School in America?" Hikari asked. 

"Yep, his second year," she nodded. 

"What about friends?" Jyou asked. 

"I'm sure she wouldn't have trouble making any," Koushirou insisted. 

"I know, she's nice to everyone," Takeru smiled. 

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, I _do_ have a very special friend back in New York." 

She started to blush and smile a little. 

"I wonder what's up with that blush of hers," Hikari whispered to Miyako. 

Miyako shrugged. 

"Who's the friend?" Daisuke asked. 

"His name is Michael." 

"Michael?" Koushirou and Jyou asked. 

"Yeah, he's so nice and handsome and everything," Mimi dreamily responded. "Oh, here's a picture of him." 

Mimi went through her small purse that I failed to mention she had earlier, (-_-), and took out a small photo album and showed them a picture of Michael. Written on it, it had, "To: My Dear Sweet Mimi, From: Your Pal Michael" 

She then took out some more. There were about four other photos, only it was of the both of them and it looked as if they were at an amusement park in one of those picture-taking booths. Both were playfully making funny faces for the first three photos. In the last one, he had his arm around Mimi's shoulder, as if hugging her, pulling her close to him, and both smiled happily as if they were a nice young couple. Michael looked to be about her age and had blonde, wavy hair. 

*Note: How about this...let's say that Mimi and Michael weren't around when Miyako first got her Digimental of Purity (Sincerity)...that way, the others don't know about him and let's make him best friends with Mimi or something. ^_^''* 

"Do you _always_ carry photos around of strange guys and take photos with them," Koushirou asked as if he could've been slightly jealous. 

"You're silly, Koushirou," Mimi giggled. "Michael isn't a strange guy, and I know I've mentioned him to you at some point, at least I I'm pretty sure I have. Anyway, Michael's one of the coolest guys I've ever met!" 

Izzy frowned a bit, especially since Mimi had a somewhat dreamy look on her face whenever she mentioned Michael. 

She took out another photo. 

"Besides, you're kind of a weird guy yourself," Mimi joked, "and I have a photo of you." 

Mimi turned back a few pages in her photo album. There was a photo of Izzy, a school photo of him from a few years ago. It was the first photo in her small picture book. Before Mimi left for America, years ago, she got a photo of all of her old friends so that she'd never forget them. 

The one that really stood out, though, was the one she had of Jyou. It was the first photo you saw before she got to the ones with Michael. She also had the photo that they took their very last day in the Digital World. 

"Hey, what's that?" Daisuke asked, pointing to the group photo. 

"Oh, that's the picture we all took our very last day in the Digital World together after our defeat of Apocalymon." 

"Wow, Hikari-chan was cute even then and boy did TJ look like a shrimp!" 

"TK..." the boy sighed. 

Hikari and Miyako saw the pic of Michael and Miyako's eyes instantly turned to hearts. 

"He's cute!" Miyako squealed. 

"Can't argue with you there!" 

"If the guys in America all look as handsome as he does, I'm on the first flight out!" Miyako grinned. 

"I just might go with you," Hikari whispered. 

Both Hikari and Miyako giggled a bit. 

Daisuke looked over at Miyako and Hikari and sighed in annoyance. Takeru shrugged at the two girls' behavior and Koushirou looked at Miyako with an annoyed expression. He then went back to Mimi. 

"Um, Mimi-san, how good of a friend _is_ he?" Koushirou asked. 

"Um, pretty good friends. He's my best friend in America. He helped me with my English when I first moved there, but that was only because he was assigned to be my tutor. 

"After a while, we became pretty good friends. We do _every_thing together. I wish I could've brought him back with me so you all could've met him, but he couldn't this time." 

"_This_ time?" 

"He was with me the last time I visited, Daisuke," Mimi explained. "He just came along on a later flight. My family had to go to a wedding. He was my date." 

"D-d-_date_!?!" Koushirou said in an almost fearful tone. 

"How come you've never mentioned him whenever you would call or e-mail us?" Jyou asked. 

The girl shrugged. "I guess it's just never really come up, even though I was pretty sure I mentioned it to Koushirou. Besides, we always get wrapped up talking about our other extra-curricular activities, you notice?" 

"I guess," Jyou said. 

"Never come up; I don't recall her ever mentioning him," Koushirou mumbled grumpily. 

"You know, I'm surprised Sora's never mentioned it. She knows all about Michael anyway. I guess it's a girl-talk type of thing whenever I talk about Michael with her. With Koushirou, it would've been for information." 

"Girl talk…going to America…getting boyfriends…telling everyone 'cept me…" Koushirou continued to grumble under his breath.   
****   
"I wish he'd stop that!" Miyako muttered as she stared over at Koushirou. 

"Stop what?" Daisuke asked, overhearing the older girl. 

"None of your business!" 

"Man, you just sounded stressed and I'm _trying_ to be nice!" 

"Sorry, it's nothing really," Miyako apologized, realizing that she shouldn't act so uptight with Daisuke. 

"Are you sure?" 

"Hai." She then forced on a smile. "Thank you for the concern." 

"Well, you're my friend, so why wouldn't I be?"   
****   
"So, Mimi-kun," Jyou started as if he was about to ask her out, a nervous quirk in his voice, "well, is he, treating you nicely? I mean, is he a really good friend?" 

"He sure is!" 

"I wouldn't mind a friend like him!" Miyako said absentmindedly to no one in particular. 

"Oh, and guess what else is cool about him that he has in common with us!" 

"What?" Koushirou asked if he could care less. 

"He's a Chosen just like us!" 

"What!?" 

"Yep, he's a Chosen just like us, that's why I thought I had mentioned him to Koushirou already. He has the same model Digivice like all of us older Chosen Children. I guess it was meant for me to meet him and for him to end up being my tutor since he's a Digidestined just like me!" 

"Digidestined?" Patamon questioned. 

"Digidestined is what the Chosen Children are called in America, Patamon," Mimi explained. 

"How did you find out that he was a fellow Chosen?" Hawkmon asked. 

"Well, when his parents were out and I was over at his house in his room---" 

"His room!! No adult authority figures!" Koushirou hysterically responded. 

"_Yes_, his room. Where else would I be?" Mimi asked rhetorically, not really catching on as to why Koushirou was currently freaking out. "Besides, his parents are always very busy, especially his father, so it's normally just him and me there anyway. I'm always in his room." 

Koushirou looked as if he were about to have a heart attack after that statement. Jyou was a bit calmer. He figured that Mimi was going to say something else...he _hoped_ so anyway. The others just sweat dropped nervously. Iori didn't react to Mimi's statement at all. He wasn't really paying attention. 

"He's the one with all of the movies and he has a television in his room," Mimi continued. "Now I noticed the Digivice on his dresser beside his bed. I asked him about it, but he kept saying that it was nothing. I then said, 'That looks just like mine.' He then asked me what I knew, so I took out my Digivice and showed it to him. 

"He then showed me his Digimon partner, Betamon, who evolves to Seadramon and I told him about my Palmon, and how I became a Chosen Child and about all of you; especially about Koushirou and how he would always figure stuff out, and how Taichi was our leader, and how my best friend was Sora, and how Jyou-senpai was like the adult of the group, being the responsible one, and how Yamato was the handsome one of the group, and how Koushirou and I figured out how to use our Digivices against the Digimon being controlled by the black gears, and…" 

All of them were listening, with lots of interest as Mimi continued her story as she explained to them how Michael first got his Digivice, the battle he saw while in New York, when the others were having their troubles in Japan with Vamdemon (Myotismon), etc. 

After all of the conversing, they once again started off in search of their Digimon pals…   
****   
Back to the Digimon Kaiser... 

"Damnit, he's still too far off for my Dark Rings, or should I say, Transparent Rings, to get him! I've never used it this way before and there still seems to be a few bugs in the system…" 

"Ken-chan." 

Ken looked up from his screen and sneered at the cowering, worm-like Digimon that stood before him. 

"WHAT!!" 

"Why are you using two Dark Rings instead of a Dark Spiral?" Wormmon asked apprehensively, afraid of getting hit for bothering his master. 

The young boy surprisingly wasn't annoyed by the small Digimon's question. He slumped down in his chair some before answering. 

"That's because it was too difficult to get the Dark Spiral to react to the wave of his Digivice. Also, as you can see, those two Dark Rings are twice as strong as my regular Dark Spirals. I may just start using the rings again." He then pondered a bit. "Hmm, I just may use this on the Digimon, as soon as I figure it out some more, but as for right now, a little entertainment if you please, my dear Wormmon." 

Ken had been treating Wormmon a tad bit nicer, a little more wouldn't hurt though, but he wasn't yelling at Wormmon as much lately, especially since he succeeded in fulfilling his mission. 

"Yes sir." 

Wormmon jumped up on the keyboard and pushed a button. It brought up a screen which showed six, captured Digimon prisoners. 

"How do you like it down there!" Ken viciously laughed. 

A Digimon that looked like a small orange reptile spoke up. 

"Let us out of here!" the reptile demanded. 

"Yes, I should let you go so that you can ruin all of my plans," Ken mocked. 

"Creep!" the orange reptile shouted at the Digimon Kaiser, ready to slash through the screen and attack the Digimon Kaiser. 

A small pink bird spoke up. This was Piyomon, Sora's Digimon partner. 

"Calm down Agumon, it's not like we can actually get out of here," she stated reasonably. "We can't even evolve!" 

The Digimon, Agumon, was Taichi's Digimon partner. 

"What else can we do?" Agumon asked. "We have to get out of here! I can't believe I was caught by _Wormmon_!!" 

Another Digimon who always wore a striped fur coat - which nobody has seen him without - spoke up next. His name was Gabumon and he was Yamato's Digimon partner. 

"You weren't the only one," Gabumon sighed. 

The next Digimon to speak up was a plant looking Digimon. Her name was Palmon and she was Mimi's Digimon partner. 

"It's just so strange," Palmon said, recalling her encounter with Wormmon. 

"I know what you mean," another Digimon spoke up. "There I was, taking a nice swim, and then _he_ showed up!" 

This cute Digimon with big paws who had just spoken was Gomamon. This was Jyou's Digimon Partner. 

"How _dare_ he touches my tree house!" an unusual, electric red Digimon argued. 

"That's all you can worry about, Tentomon?" Palmon asked. "Your tree house?" 

"You're darn right it is!" 

This eccentric, flying bug like Digimon was Tentomon, Koushirou's Digimon partner. 

"How about we find a way to pass the time away," Tentomon suggested. "How were you caught and thrown in here? I remember my failure well." He then grew hysterical, and said, "BUT HE SHOULDN'T HAVE GONE NEAR MY TREE HOUSE!! I TOLD THEM TO STAY OUT!!" 

All of the Digimon sweat dropped. 

"Um, I think he's been in here too long," Palmon said with an uneasy laugh. 

"What are you talking about?" Gomamon retorted. "He just _got_ here!" 

"Maybe the Digimon Kaiser got to him mind wise," Gabumon presumed. 

"I was sitting in my tree house, enjoying the peace and quiet when Wormmon and the Digimon Kaiser's MegaSeadramon showed up. They attacked me, so I tried to evolve…" 

_"Why are you here, and stay away from my tree house!!"_

_"We have an invitation for you from the Digimon Kaiser!" Wormmon announced._

_"Tell him I don't want his invitation and to go away!"_

_"MegaSeadramon, attack him!"_

_"I can take care of this water flunkie!" Tentomon said as he started to generate electricity in his wings. "Petite Thunder! (Super Shocker)"_

_Tentomon shot out a streak of electricity towards MegaSeadramon. For some odd reason, his attack did the trick. MegaSeadramon fell._

_"I didn't feel like battling anymore anyway," MegaSeadramon yawned. "How about we just leave him here."_

_"NO!!" the worm protested. "Ken-chan sent me here to get all of them! This is the last Digimon we have to capture for him, and I want him to be proud of me."_

_"Whatever, I'm going home."_

_"Wait, I can't fly and get him back by myself!"_

_"You battle...I'll wait here until you're done. If anything goes wrong, I'll help, that is if I feel like it."_

_Wormmon sighed while Mega Seadramon went to Tentomon's tree house._

_"I SAID NOT TO GO NEAR MY TREEHOUSE!!!"_

_Tentomon went after MegaSeadramon and decided to evolve so that he'd have more of a chance in battle._

_"Now you have gotten me angry!" the bug-like Digi yelled at the big, sea-dragon like Digi. "How dare you disobey me!"_

_"What?" MegaSeadramon asked, confused as to what Tentomon was talking about._

_"Tentomon shinka…" he called out, his voice echoing. He then came to a surprising discovery. "I can't evolve!! Why can I not evolve!!"_

_Wormmon snickered at Tentomon's mishap._

_"Now, fight me!" the worm beckoned. "This is my battle, not MegaSeadramon's!"_

_"It would be my pleasure," Tentomon said, accepting the small bug's challenge, knowing that he would definitely win. He then muttered, "Going in my tree house…"_

_"Sticky Net!"_

_Tentomon dodged the web-like attack and flew closer to Wormmon. He then felt tired and fell to the ground. Wormmon used his "Sticky Net" again and it hit Tentomon dead on._

_"Why do I feel so...so depleted of energy," Tentomon uttered._

_Tentomon then noticed the weird looking object hanging around Wormmon's neck._

_"How do you like it?" Wormmon asked, noticing Tentomon's staring at. "It was a gift and this makes me invincible against all Digimon!"_

_Tentomon tried to fight, but the dark power from the "mini tower" was too much for him. He then felt himself fainting._

_"I'll...get...you...for...this...and...stay...out...of...my...tree...house…" Tentomon managed to breathe out before he passed out._

_"Ken-chan'll be so proud of me!" Wormmon exclaimed in delight. "Let's go, MegaSeadramon!"_

_MegaSeadramon tossed Tentomon onto his back and headed back towards Ken's, while Wormmon stayed behind..._   
****   
RP: I wonder if I'm starting to overdo it with that tree house thing. ^^;   
****   
All of the Digimon looked at Tentomon like he was crazy. Sure the same thing happened to them pretty much, but he was more worried about his tree house than about himself. 

"What I want to know is why Wormmon wasn't affected by the powers of that mini tower he wore around his neck," Palmon wondered. "He's a Digimon too." 

"Maybe it was made so that it wouldn't affect him," Gabumon theorized. "I'm curious as to how he got back so quickly. After my defeat, he stayed behind and MegaSeadramon took me back to his master! But Wormmon was already there when I arrived." 

The other Digimon nodded, minus Tentomon since he was the only one to faint from battle. They too found it weird that Wormmon was able to move so quickly. 

"I SWEAR OUT THAT I _WILL_ GET MY REVENGE!! HOW DARE THEY GET IN MY TREE HOUSE!! THEY _WILL_ PAY!!" 

Agumon, slightly scared of Tentomon responded, "I say we try to bust out of here through that wall," he then whispered to the others, "to get away from Tentomon for a while." He then went back to his normal tone of voice. "Let's all attack together!" 

"Good idea!" Piyomon agreed. 

"We should be able to get out of here if we work together as a team," Gabumon nodded, also in agreement with Agumon. 

"But I can't do anything as a child (rookie)," Gomamon frowned. "Now if I could evolve, sure, but not like this." 

"Same with me. All I have is my Poison Ivy attack, and that's not all that great of a move when trying to knock down walls." 

"Then leave it to us! We'll get my tree house back by working together!" 

The Digimon sweat dropped again. 

"What's with this Digimon and his tree house?" Ken muttered as he continued to monitor them, disregarding the fact that they had said that they were planning on busting out. 

"That's bad if he doesn't know what's wrong with Tentomon," Gabumon muttered. 

"That means that Tentomon is his usual self and the Kaiser isn't controlling him," Gomamon said. 

"How about we just all attack him to get him back to normal," Agumon jokingly whispered to the others. "One good _whack_ ought to do it." 

"Tentomon used to be normal?" Palmon teased. 

"Isn't it said that a Digimon is similar to that of his partner?" Gabumon asked. 

"Poor Koushirou," Piyomon frowned. "That must mean that he's in the same state as Tentomon, even though the last time I saw him, Koushirou was normal." 

"It must be a Tentomon thing, then," Gomamon concluded. "I wonder what's so special about that tree house of his anyway." 

"On the count of three, everyone!" Tentomon called out. "Ichi…ni…san!" 

"Baby Flame! (Pepper Breath!)" 

"Magical Fire! (Spiral Twister!)" 

"Petite Fire! (Blue Blaster!)" 

"Petite Thunder! (Super Shocker!)" 

Their attacks combined didn't help too much. Not even a scratch. The Digimon Kaiser laughed cruelly at them. 

"That does it!" Agumon said, having grown tired of their situation. "Let's ram it in!!"   
****   
RP: If that isn't a 01 "Tai" thing, I don't know what is. (-_-)   
****   
"Now that's something I _can_ do!" Gomamon said. 

The others agreed and tried to knock down the cell wall, but they all got shocked badly and fell back in pain. Ken had taken the liberty of wiring everything...   
****   
Meanwhile, back in Odaiba, Sora, Tai, and Matt were all sitting down eating at a fast food place, conversing. 

"...and that was the time I enjoyed most with Agumon around," Taichi finished up. "Hey, another time I thought Agumon was pretty funny was when he was trying to sing to wake up Tonosama Gekomon (Shogun Gekomon). He sounded awful!" 

"You weren't any better yourself, Taichi!" Sora laughed. 

"How do you know how I sounded?" 

"I was there, just well hidden," Sora said while chomping down into her burger. 

"How bad was he?" Yamato asked while eating on his fries. 

"Let me put it this way, let's hope that neither him, Agumon, Gomamon, or Jyou-senpai get singing contracts and if they did, people would pay them to _stop_ singing!" 

Yamato, along with Sora, laughed, while Taichi, "hmmphed" and crossed his arms in annoyance. 

"I bet you guys aren't any better!" 

"Of course I can sing, you know that!" Sora retorted with a small laugh. "I just never really sang in public, but how can you say that about Yamato? He's a _great_ singer!" 

"Thank you, thank you for all of your support." Yamato waved as if he were the grand marshal of a parade. 

Sora started to clap as Yamato stood up and bowed. 

"Oh brother," Taichi said while rolling his eyes. 'She never pays that much attention to me,' he muttered in thought, slightly jealous. 

Yamato sat back down, and got back on topic. 

"You know, I think I remember your telling us about that and Mimi acting like a spoiled brat; well, more than usual for back then," Yamato recalled. 

"Well, she _was_ being waited on hand and foot, I bet _any_one would've let that go to his or her head," Taichi said. "Glad Sora talked some sense into her." 

"All in a day's work," the tennis player smiled. 

"I remember when Gabumon helped me out when I was all depressed and felt insignificant. He helped me to realize that I wasn't." The musician heaved out a sigh. "He sure was a great friend." 

"I remember Piyomon telling me about how she met my mother after I left on my way to Soccer practice to look for Taichi," Sora said, taking a sip of her soda. "She said that mom was terrified of her, and wasn't sure if she should tell her where I had gone or not, but she figured that Piyomon was on our side and trusted her." 

"I guess so," Yamato said. "If something that looked like a stuffed animal just started talking, I'd be a little freaked myself. I was a bit skeptical when I met Tsunomon for the first time."   
****   
RP: Definitely! Who else thought Piyomon looked a bit freaky when Sora's mom found out that she was real. It was such an eerie scene to me, imo.   
****   
"If it weren't for Piyomon, my mother and I wouldn't be as close as we are now." 

"Yeah, that's a good thing," Taichi smiled. 

"Here we are, trying to cheer ourselves up and we're talking about our Digimon, whom of which we are worried about," Sora said while staring down at the table. 

"Hey, just remember the good times we've had with them," Yamato suggested. "It's hard to forget a good friend, even if you can't see them or talk with them as much as you'd like." 

Taichi nodded in agreement and started towards his half-eaten burger...   
****   
"Ta-i-chi..." a voice squeaked in pain.   
****   
Tai then gasped as he bit down into his burger. 

"AGUMON!!!" Taichi said, standing up, his chair falling down in the process. 

Due to Taichi's standing up so suddenly, both Sora and Yamato looked over in his direction across the table. 

"What's wrong, Taichi?" they both asked. 

People were also staring, trying to figure out what was wrong.   
****   
"So-ra..." a voice chirped out in pain.   
****   
"PIYOMON!!" Sora gasped out, dropping her soda to the floor. 

"Sora! What's wrong!" Yamato asked in alarm.   
****   
"Ya-ma-to..." a voice howled in pain.   
****   
"Oh no, Gabumon!!!" 

The three nodded and got up from their chairs and ran back towards the school. They were determined to find a way to the Digital World to help their friends.   
****   
"Kou-shi-rou-han…" 

"Mi-mi…" 

"Jyou…"   
****   
"TENTOMON/PALMON/GOMAMON!!!" Koushirou, Mimi, and Jyou gasped out in unison.   
****   
"Help...us..." all of the Digimon managed to get out, their voices weak and faint.   
****   
"What's wrong!" Hikari asked in alarm. 

"I don't know, but something is wrong with Palmon! She's hurt somehow; I just know it!" 

"Same here, Gomamon is hurt! We have to help him!" 

"I am terribly worried about Tentomon! I sense that he too has been hurt!" 

"That's amazing!" 

"What's amazing, Tailmon?" V-mon asked. 

"Their bond with their Digimon must be a lot stronger than we all thought." 

"I get it and you're probably right," Hawkmon nodded. "They sense their Digimon are in trouble, and their Digivices aren't even going off or blinking or anything like that indicating that they're in trouble." 

"That's what I call a good bond," Daisuke said. 

"From their expressions, I hope everything is okay with them and that we aren't too late," Iori muttered. 

Iori's D-3 then started to blink, glow, and shake madly. 

"What's wrong with that thing, anyway!" 

"I don't know, Armadimon, but this is the same exact thing that happened before I went to sleep last night." 

"Let me see that!" 

When Koushirou took the Digivice, it stopped glowing and shaking. 

"Strange," Miyako muttered. 

"Do you feel any differently, Armadimon?" Hawkmon asked. 

"Nope, I feel fine." 

"You don't even feel like you could evolve?" 

Armadimon shook his head to Tailmon's question. 

"How come _my_ Digivice is the only one that reacts like this!" 

"Maybe there's something hidden nearby and your Digivice is the only one that can pick it up," Daisuke theorized. 

"Then why did it do the same exact thing when I was in the real world?" Iori questioned. 

He shrugged. "I can't think of anything else and that's the only thing I can come up with. Who knows, maybe it's another Digimental." 

"Nice theory there, Daisuke," Miyako complimented, "but whom would it be for?" 

"Maybe it's for one of us," Mimi said while pointing to herself, Jyou, and Koushirou. 

"But we've had something that the newer kids haven't, Mimi-kun. I don't think that they would be for us." 

"What's that?" Takeru asked. 

"We possess crests and once had tags and physical crests. Iori-kun, Miyako-kun, and Daisuke-kun don't, but they seem to have the power to collect and own Digimentals so that their Digimon can evolve to a higher level. We had to use our crest powers to get our Digimon to evolve to their highest levels. Apparently, armor evolving is their highest form, currently anyway." 

Koushirou took in what Jyou had said, that pondering look, now on his face. 

"Interesting theory but maybe they _could_ be for us. Look at Takeru-kun and Hikari-san. Takeru-kun used to have the Crest of Hope and Hikari-san, the Crest of Light and both found their Digimentals of Hope and Light. I guess it doesn't matter if you lack a crest or not." 

"Good point, but what would they be? As a matter of fact, all of the Digimentals with the symbols of our old crests have been found except for mine with the Crest of Sincerity." Jyou retorted. "It's not like we can find the Digimental of Knowledge that's actually for you because Iori-kun has it, or the Digimental of Purity for Mimi-kun, since Miyako-kun has it, or if Taichi, Yamato, or Sora-kun were here, we couldn't find the Digimental of Courage for Taichi or the Digimental of Friendship for Yamato, or the Digimental of Love for Sora-kun, since Daisuke-kun has both the Digimentals of Courage and Friendship, and Miyako-kun has Love." 

"I guess, but maybe---" 

"Hey guys," Hikari interrupted before Koushirou could give off anymore theories, pointing ahead of her, "look!" 

Everyone looked to where Kari had pointed. 

"Gokimon (Roachmon)," Tailmon muttered in disgust. 

"A whole _lot_ of Gokimon," Patamon added. 

Digimon Analyzer On>> 

Hawkmon: Just take everything you hate about bugs and put 'em all together and you got Gokimon, one of the most unsanitary Digimon to ever roam the Digital World. 

Digimon Analyzer Off> 

"And Garbamon, gross!" Mimi shook. "I was hoping to _never_ see those creeps again!" 

"Garbamon?" Daisuke questioned. 

Digimon Analyzer On>> 

Mimi: That hunk of junk is Garbamon (Garbagemon) and they'll _totally_ gross you out by throwing out their nasty, gross Digi-sludge crap at you! 

Digimon Analyzer Off>> 

"Yet you caught the sludge and threw it back at them," Koushirou recalled. 

"What can I say? I literally cracked that day," Mimi said with a small, slightly embarrassed laugh. 

Jyou shook his head. "That's still disgusting and unsanitary when you get right down to it." 

"I still can't believe I actually _touched_ that stuff!!" the pink-haired girl of purity shuddered.   
****   
"It is time; he's in range!" Ken smiled, a look of anticipation and anxiety on his face. "I don't have to put the rings on him personally! It'll still be a while before they react, though."   
****   
Agumon sat up and shook his head. He saw that the screen with the Digimon Kaiser was gone which meant he wasn't monitoring them anymore. 

"Is everybody all right?" Agumon asked, looking around at his fellow Digimon. 

"I'm okay, a little weak, but I'm fine," Tentomon said, sitting up some. 

"I wish Tentomon could evolve," Palmon complained. "That way, that hard head of his when he's Kabuterimon could break us out of here through the ceiling." 

"Hey, I have an even better idea!" 

"What idea is that?" Gabumon asked anxiously. 

Tentomon, pointed, and replied, "How about we get out of here by going out that hole in the back wall and saving my tree house?" 

All of the Digimon looked over to where Tentomon had pointed, dumbfounded looks on all of their faces. 

"Why didn't you say something earlier!" Gomamon shouted at the flying Digimon. 

"I just noticed it," he bashfully responded. 

Sure enough there was a small opening in the back wall of their cell. No one was guarding that part of the cell so the Digimon Kaiser obviously didn't know about it. 

"Shh, we do not want the Digimon Kaiser or his Digimon flunkies to hear us," Gabumon warned. 

"Let's go!" Palmon urged. 

"Wait, maybe only one of us should escape," Gabumon suggested. 

"Why?" Agumon asked, thinking that all of them escaping was for the better. 

"What a foolish thing to say! I have to reclaim my tree house and I can't do that if I'm cooped up in here!" 

Gabumon sweat dropped from Tentomon's outburst, his patience starting to grow thin. 

"What are you getting at, Gabumon?" Gomamon asked, ignoring Tentomon altogether. 

"Let only one of us get away to go and find help." 

"But which one of us goes?" 

"Me, of course," Tentomon answered before anyone else could respond to the Plant Digimon's question. "My tree house needs its owner." 

"Will you quiet down about your tree house!" Gabumon shouted, his nerves finally wearing thin. "Anyway, let us figure out which one of us _can't_ leave, first of all." 

"How do we figure that out?" the water-digi questioned. 

"Probably the Digimon the Digimon Kaiser has encountered the least," Piyomon responded. 

"I guess that counts me out," Agumon said while scratching his head. 

"I am most certain that he would notice my absence," Gabumon replied. 

"And if the Digimon Kaiser checks, he'll _know_ that Tentomon is missing," Palmon laughed. 

"Yeah, with the way he's ranting and raving about that tree house of his," Gomamon smirked. 

"I am _not_ ranting and raving!!" 

"Besides," Gabumon started, ignoring Tentomon, "out of all us, I am sure he's encountered Tentomon the most, along with Agumon and myself." 

"Well, looks like it's going to be either Palmon, Gomamon, or Piyomon." 

"I think Palmon should go," Tentomon spoke up. 

"I was going to suggest Gomamon," Gabumon said. 

"I was going to say Piyomon since she can fly," Agumon said. 

"I have a solution, let's send out the fastest of the three," Gabumon proposed. 

"Definitely not me, these roots don't make me a fast runner. Besides, I'm better at swinging and climbing than running, and there are no trees around here." 

"I'm faster at swimming; running isn't my thing." 

"I guess Piyomon goes, which means that my suggestion was right!" 

The Digimon helped Piyomon threw the opening and whispered, "Good luck" to her. 

"Find Takeru and Hikari," Gabumon instructed in a whisper. "I am sure they're around here someplace." 

Piyomon nodded and flew off as fast as she could, careful to remain unnoticed, which proved to be successful because she got away from the area where all of her Digimon friends were being held captive... 


	8. An Old Friend Returns!

*Hey again everybody. Hope you're enjoying this wonderful Digific so far. ^^;...okay, never mind all of that. I do not own any of the characters and/or places that are associated with the Digimon show, comic, game, etc. Now, here's Part 8 for your reading pleasure. ^_^* 

Part 8: An Old Friend Returns! 

Yamato, Sora, and Taichi had just made it back to Odaiba Elementary and made their ways back to the computer lab. 

"Something is terribly wrong! I don't only have a feeling that our Digimon are in trouble, but I have the feeling that something is wrong with one of the others now too, but I'm not all that worried about Piyomon anymore." 

"We _have_ to get to the Digital World to help!" Yamato said while banging his fist down on the computer desk in frustration. 

Taichi took a seat at the computer that the others normally always used when going to and from the Digital World, and started to type. He and Izzy hanged out quite a lot and he was learning a bit about computers. 

"Taichi, what are you doing?" Sora asked, looking over the soccer player's shoulder. 

"Looking for the closest gate that's open," he managed to say since his concentration was more so on the screen in front of him. 

"You know how to do that?" Yamato asked in surprise. 

"Yeah, Koushirou showed me how." 

"Amazing!" the two said. 

"But Taichi, what are the chances of there being a gate open near here?" 

"Look, Sora, I don't care if the closest gate is in Osaka and I have to hitchhike, I'm going to get to the Digital World one way or another!" 

He kept typing and frowned. 

"This is weird, nothing is happening." 

"Maybe you typed in the wrong command," Sora replied. 

"No, I'm pretty sure I did this right. 

He then typed in a command to bring up the gate that the others traveled through, but all it did was beep. 

"See, it isn't me; it won't even let me see where Takeru and the others went or where they are or anything!" 

"I wonder why," Yamato asked. 

Before Tai could give any type of an explanation, he and the others heard a voice say, "You Got Mail" 

"Maybe it's an email from the others," Sora hoped. 

"I sure hope so," Taichi muttered. 

"Hurry up and check it!" Yamato urged. "My little brother and Gabumon may be in trouble!" 

"My sister is out there too, you know, and so are Agumon, Piyomon, and the others!" Taichi snapped back. 

Yamato got angered at Taichi and vice versa. The two looked as if they were about to knock each other out. Sora stood between the two taller boys and held them back from one another. 

"Stop it you two and put your fists down! Why are you arguing like two immature brats!" Sora then smirked a bit. "Well, with the way you two argue, you can tell that you _really_ care about each other and are very good friends." 

"Yeah…I really care about him…" Yamato said slowly with a sweat drop, "anyway, I'm just so worried about Takeru. What if he's hurt and he needs my help! What if---" 

"He's 11 years old!" Taichi yelled at the taller boy. "Let him grow up! He can do fine without you and he proved that when he got away from Puppetmon all by himself and he was _eight_ then! Man, he's even as big as you are now!" 

"TAICHI!!!" 

"No Sora, he's right. I still see him as a little kid and that he always needs me to protect him. Even after he told me that he didn't need me to watch over him anymore, I still do it." 

"Yamato…" 

Taichi shook his head at Sora who nodded. 

"We understand." Sora gave Yamato a gentle smile. "You're just being a typical big brother. I think it's rather nice that you like to look after him." 

"But Taichi _is_ right, I should really let him grow up. I have to accept the fact that he's not a little kid anymore." 

"Yeah, he's not the same shrimpy kid he was a few years ago," Taichi shortly laughed. 

"And let's not forget that he's really cute now; not that adorable cute like when he was a kid, but a handsome type of cute." 

Taichi and Yamato gave her a look. 

The girl blushed a little, and gave out a nervous smile. "Not that you aren't, Yamato." 

"Naturally; Takeru gets his looks from me I'm sure. Sometimes I wonder why I was cursed with these good looks." 

"And what about me?" 

"Oh, you know you're cute, but you shouldn't have ditched the goggles. Ever thought of getting another pair?" 

"What's _with_ you today?" Taichi then started to laugh a bit. "You're being a little too nice and you've been talking about boys being cute a lot lately." 

The Tennis playing girl smiled nervously and then started urging Taichi to check the email to get the attention off of her. 

"Check the e-mail, Tai!" 

"Oh, yeah!" 

He clicked on the e-mail icon, which caused the three to gasp at what they saw. Instead of getting a written message, like one would normally, an icon with a voice, which belonged to that of an old man with slits for eyes, said, "Hey there, Chosen Children!" 

"Gennai?" 

"In the flesh…um, data. Nice to see you all again. My, you've all grown up so much." 

"Gennai-san?" Sora said again, still a bit surprised. 

Digianalyzer on>> 

Gennai: Yep, it's me, the one and only Gennai! I helped out Taichi and the others a few years earlier when they first came to the Digital World. If it weren't for my great guidance, they wouldn't be the great people that they are now! 

Taichi: Great guidance? 

Gennai: ^_^; 

Digianalyzer off>> 

"Gennai, what's wrong!" Yamato asked. 

"Nothing bad, I hope," Sora said. 

"I'm afraid so," Gennai nodded sadly. 

"Does it have to do with my sister and the others?" 

"They don't know it yet, but they're in terrible danger." 

"Maybe we should find Mimi-chan and Jyou-senpai. I'm pretty sure that Koushirou-kun is already with them. He said he was going to come over because of something dealing with Iori's Digivice; besides, he left his uniform jacket there on the chair and I know it doesn't belong to Yamato or Taichi because it's too small, but we should really let Mimi-chan and Jyou-senpai know what's going on." 

"You don't even have to bother; they're already in the Digital World along with Takeru, Hikari, and those two new kids I've never met directly." 

"Two?" Taichi asked. 

"There are three new kids now," Yamato informed him. 

"Unless one of them stayed home or something. My guess would be Miyako-chan. She's been taking the true identity of the Digimon Kaiser pretty badly, lately." 

"Oh yeah, that's right, three new kids. My old age must be catching up to me," Gennai chuckled. "The kid I forgot was a weird looking one." 

"But Taichi is standing right here, unless you mean Daisuke," Yamato joked. 

Sora giggled. 

"Hey!" 

"That's true," Gennai started, "but unlike Taichi, this kid is quiet." 

"What exactly is wrong?" Sora asked, growing more worried by the second. "You haven't really mentioned anything." 

"Could the kid he's talking about be Iori?" Yamato asked. "He's pretty quiet." 

"Yeah, that's the one!" Gennai's tone then turned to that of a very serious one. "In a short while, he will no longer be a Chosen Child, instead, he will be a Digimon." 

"You're making less sense than usual!" Taichi shouted. 

"How can a child turn into a Digimon?" Sora asked. 

"Well, not physically, I hope, but mentally, sort of…" 

"That still doesn't make any sense!" Yamato muttered. 

"Since _when_ has Gennai ever made any sense?" 

The musician thought about Taichi's question. 

"Good point," he finally said. "We could be here the rest of the day and all night trying to figure out what _he's_ talking about." 

"We're doomed," Sora groaned. 

Gennai shook his head and ignored the comments and continued. 

"Well, the Digimon Kaiser---" 

"You _know_ about him?!" 

"Of course, Sora. I know about everything that goes on in the Digital World, even if I'm not there physically anymore." 

Sora was about to ask "How do you know" and "What do you mean 'not there physically'" but decided to ask later and see what he had to say first. 

"Your friend is going to be taken over by the Digimon Kaiser. He's going to serve, obey him, and help to get rid of the others. He's halfway there already!" 

"Iori is the most polite kid there is!" Yamato retorted, refusing to believe such a thing. "He would _never_ do a thing like that! Now Daisuke, since he's so fickle, yeah, I could see, but not Iori!" 

"But how?" 

"I'm not too sure as to how, Sora." Gennai then put his attention on the musician. "My, what confidence _do_ you have in Daisuke?" 

"Just kidding around, Gennai. Daisuke really is a bright and determined kid, though." 

"Gennai, how do you know this?" Taichi asked. 

"You children really want to know?" 

The three nodded vigorously. 

"Okay, come a little closer and I'll tell you," the old man smiled. 

The three looked at each other and shrugged and then inched closer and closer towards the computer screen, awaiting Gennai's answer. 

"Well, I can't tell you that." 

You then hear a loud crash. The three young teens had face-faulted. 

"I don't even know myself," he goofily grinned. 

"Yeah…nice," Yamato mumbled with a sweat drop, picking himself up. 

"Gennai-san, did you contact us so that we could warn the others?" 

"Yes, pretty much, Sora." 

"We could send them an email," Taichi suggested. 

"No can do, kiddo," Gennai shook his head. 

"How come?" Yamato asked. 

"For some odd reason, direct communication with them while in the Digital World isn't possible right now. That device that Digimon Kaiser guy is using probably has a lot to do with it and is interfering with your connection with them." 

"Then how are you communicating with us right now?" Sora asked. 

"Where _are_ you anyway?" Taichi asked, giving Gennai a look of suspicion. 

"It couldn't be the Digital World if he's talking to us," Yamato concluded, his arms crossed. 

"No, it couldn't be," Sora shook her head. "He said something about not being in the Digital World physically anymore, and I want to know more about that and how he knows all of this stuff dealing with Iori and the Digimon Kaiser!" 

"Oh no! What's happening!" 

Sora and Yamato looked over to where Taichi was. The computer image of Gennai was starting to fade away. 

"Uh-oh, I was afraid this was going to happen..." 

"What!" Sora asked in alarm. "Are you in some type of trouble!" 

"Is that Digimon Kaiser jerk shutting you off from us!" Taichi asked, his right fist bawled, ready to fight. 

"Maybe he found out that you are warning us about Iori and is trying to keep you from saying anything else!" Yamato assumed. 

"No, it's something FAR worse!" 

"Worse than the Digimon Kaiser?" 

"Yes, Sora, _much_ worse…AOL!" 

"Ehh?" 

"It's about to lose its connection for absolutely no reason at all, which proves how lousy it really is." 

"Oh-kay," Taichi sweat dropped, his eyes more closed than Gennai's. 

"I better tell you this quickly, there's a gate open right there in Odaiba, Tokyo." 

"A gate…open?" Sora and Yamato asked in unison. 

"Where is it!! Hikari could be in danger!!" 

"Who's being the overprotective brother now?" 

"This is a totally different situation! Brothers are supposed to be more protective of their little sisters!" 

"What!" 

"Well, um, sisters are helpless since they're girls and, um…" 

'Note to self, beat the crap out of Taichi for that remark,' Sora muttered in thought. 

"…well, girls aren't weak, it's just that Hikari may need me! I mean, I'm sill her brother and I don't want anything to happen to her!" 

'Good save, Taichi,' Sora inwardly praised. 

'What if she's getting sick again!' Taichi thought, a bit in worry. 'Oh no! Would the others know what to do!?! I would _never_ forgive myself if something bad happened to Hikari while in the Digital World! What would mom think? She doesn't even _know_ about the Digimon and the Digital World. No one does, only a few of us still do since everyone else's minds have been completely erased of what happened with Apocalymon and all of the other evil Digimon three years ago!!' 

Yamato was about to respond, but Sora stopped the two from saying anything further so that Gennai could speak. 

"Thank you Sora. I'm out of aspirin, so listening to an argument right now isn't the best thing in the world to do. Now, according to this, there is a gate open there in Tokyo at an OJH, the band room. Yamato should know that place well." 

"OJH?" Taichi asked. 

"Band room?" 

"Where's OJH, and what part of Tokyo is it in?" Sora asked. 

"Band room?" 

"Are you sure it's right here in Odaiba?" Yamato asked. 

"Whoops, gotta go. I have an AOL error message now for no apparent reason." 

"Gennai, wait, come back!!" Taichi pleaded. "Tell us what part of Tokyo this OJH place is in!!" 

Gennai's image then disappeared. 

"We have to find OJH, but where is it and what is it?" Sora asked. 

"Well, we're not going to find it standing around here trying to figure Gennai out. Let's go!" Yamato instructed. 

"Right!" Taichi and Sora nodded. 

The three left to find this "OJH" place and to get to the Digital World to help the others… 


	9. Iori's Painful Encounter!

*Hi again everyone. I do not own any of this Digi-stuff. Now on with the fic and don't forget those responses and reviews. ^_^* 

Part 9: Iori's Painful Encounter! 

The group were still deciding on what to do about the Gokimon and Garbamon when Iori's Digivice started to act strangely again. 

"It's doing it again!" Iori announced while holding the device in his hand. 

Right at that moment, Iori started to feel a bit strange, as if something was coming towards him. He the felt something clasp around both of his wrists, which resulted in shocking him badly. 

"Iori!" 

Iori stood there, a blank look in his eye, while looking as if some invisible force was zapping him. Everyone stared at the youngest boy, too scared, and panicked, to go near him. No one knew what to do. As of right now, Miyako was the most worried. Iori, to her, was like her younger brother, and she felt somewhat responsible for him at times. 

Iori felt terrible pain as he continued being shocked. The shock was so powerful, it knocked him back violently into Jyou, who caught him. Even after his being knocked back, Iori still looked as if he were being shocked, or either having a really bad seizure. 

Jyou kept yelling to try and get his attention, but it seemed as if Iori wasn't hearing him. Iori had such a blank expression on his face and his eyes looked as if they were currently lacking life. 

"Iori! Say something! Iori-kun!! Can you hear me! It's me, Jyou!" 

"C'mon, buddy, don't zone out on us!" Daisuke begged. 

"Poor thing!" Mimi said, sorrow in her voice. "Iori-kun, please stop that!" 

Jyou still had a hold on Iori and the small boy then screamed as if he was in unspeakable pain, or as if he was being tortured and could take no more. 

"Iori!!" Miyako called out, her eyes starting to glisten with tears. Iori's high-pitched screams, to her, sounded as if he was being killed. 

"I feel, strange…" 

"What are you talking about, Armadimon?" Patamon asked. 

"I feel differently right now…" 

"Maybe you ate something bad," V-mon said. 

"We will worry about Armadimon later," Hawkmon wisely input. "We have to help Iori-kun somehow!" 

"I know, but I'm useless right now!" 

"Don't talk like that, Armadimon!" Takeru scolded, overhearing the ground-like Digimon over Iori's screams of agony. 

"Well, it's true!" he retorted, disgust in his voice. "He's in trouble and I can't help him!" 

"You're starting to sound like Patamon when I first met him," Takeru muttered. 

"It's not your fault, Armadimon," Koushirou assured him, trying his best to remain calm since he too was alarmed over their current situation. "We all can't help him mainly because we can't figure out what's wrong with him." 

Izzy got quiet and started pondering. 

"I think Koushirou's trying to come up with an idea to help poor little Iori, and I hope that he does," Mimi said, feeling sorry for Iori. "It could be a while, though, before he comes up with something really good plan-wise since he doesn't have his laptop with him." 

"Haha!" Koushirou sarcastically laughed, although he sounded as if he was literally joking. 

"I wasn't being funny!!" Mimi shouted at Koushirou, slightly angered. "I am dead serious!" 

"So am I!" Koushirou yelled back. "I'm trying to figure out what's wrong! Even with my laptop, I don't think I could figure this out!!" 

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL AT ME!!" 

"I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO!!!" 

"THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL YELLING!!" 

"I COULD ASK THE SAME OF YOU!!" 

"Will you two stop arguing like a bunch of children!!" Jyou yelled at the both of them. He then muttered under his breath, "And they wonder why I was so paranoid when we were stuck in the Digital World years ago. They all acted like nothing but a bunch of little kids…" 

"I'm sorry," Mimi apologized. "I'm just so worried about poor Iori." 

"Yeah, I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to yell at you like that." 

Izzy got quiet again and went back to thinking. 

"I hope you or Jyou-senpai come up with something," Mimi trailed off, staring at Iori, her eyes starting to water some. 

"What do we do, Jyou-san!" 

"I don't know what's wrong with him, Hikari! It looks as if he could be having a seizure!" Jyou responded, panic in his voice. "Iori, please say something! What is wrong! What is causing this!" 

"He looks like he's being electrocuted!" Hikari pointed out, wishing she could help. 

"But there's no electricity!" Miyako said, literally ready to have a nervous breakdown since Iori was suffering so much. 

"Then what's causing it!" Daisuke wanted to know. "How can we make it stop?!" 

"MAKE IT STOP!!" Iori shouted painfully at the top of his lungs. "MAKE IT STOP!!" 

The boy then screamed, tears started to form in his eyes. The boy then started to take deep, labored breaths and grasped his chest, gasping for more air. 

"MAKE IT STOP!!" he screamed again, his eyes finally growing heavy with his with the salty liquid, which started to stream down the sides of his face in the form of tears. "_PLEASE_, MIYAKO-SAN, JUST MAKE THE PAIN STOP!!" 

"Iori!!" Miyako called. "Help him!! Someone help him!!" 

"We can't make the pain stop if you don't tell us what's causing it or where it is!" Jyou shouted to the boy with lots of concern, holding onto the younger, shorter boy's shoulders. 

'What could be causing this,' Koushirou pondered in thought. 'His Digivice started acting strangely, then it…wait, that's it!! The Digivice!' Koushirou looked over to Jyou and said, "I know what's wrong!!" 

Before Jyou could comment, Izzy got an idea and ran up to Iori. He figured that Iori's D-3 was what was causing the problem, so he figured that by taking it away, would solve it, but when he touched it he screamed in pain. 

"H--h--h---e--e---l--p...ME!!!" 

Izzy looked as if he was stuck in place while holding onto the Digivice, which was also still being held by Iori. While there, he felt the same shock as Iori was, but not as bad, but it still hurt him, nevertheless. A short moment later, Koushirou was blown away from Iori and the Digivice, as if he was being fired out of a cannon, and got knocked back right into Takeru. 

"Koushirou-kun/Izumi-senpai/Koushirou!" Mimi, Miyako, and Jyou called. 

"Takeru!" Daisuke, Hikari, and Patamon called out. 

Mimi ran over to Izzy and helped him to sit up. 

"What happened?" she asked. 

"I don't know, but when I tried to take his Digivice, I got shocked," Koushirou said, rubbing his head. "Thank you for helping me up, Mimi-san. Luckily, when I got knocked back, I landed on something kind of soft." 

Takeru sweat dropped in annoyance, his closed, left eye twitching some. 

"Are you okay, Takeru?" 

"Yeah, Patamon, I guess, but Koushirou is heavy!!" The boy then shouted, "Koushirou-san, get off of me!! You're not _light_, you know!!" 

"Oops, sorry," Koushirou apologized, standing up. 

During all of the commotion, Iori's episode ended, and he fell to the ground, but was still conscious…   
****   
"Great!" Ken cheered from his chambers, his voice echoing throughout it. 

"What happened, master?" 

"They're at the exact location! That kid should be turning on them at any moment now! The rings are now in place!" he laughed evilly, keeping his eyes on the screen before him. "Interesting side effect," the boy noted, after his laughter had subsided. "I didn't think that he would've ended up being shocked like that. It's never happened with a Digimon." 

"But master, why is it taking so long for it to work?" 

"Because it's never been used on a human before. He _does_ seem to be changing some, though." He turned to his Digimon, his Kaiser-like grin plastered on his face. "My dear Wormmon…" 

"Yes sir?" 

"My tea, if you please." 

"Yes sir," the Digimon nodded as he slithered out of the dark room. 

"And don't you forget that I like four lumps of sugar in my tea and a lemon wedge and exactly one teaspoon of honey, and I also want milk in my tea! And if you forget it, you're going to get it!" Ken shouted down the hall. "And could you bring me some ohagi with my tea, I still have some that my mother made for me," he added on in a childish, innocent tone. 

"Yes, Ken-chan," a voice faintly called back.   
****   
RP: I couldn't resist, I saw the commercial, and I loved it! And that tea part was _so_ kyuute!! ^_^   
****   
Ignoring the fact that Wormmon had referred to him as "Ken-chan," he decided to go back to viewing what the other Chosens were up to. 

"Now to sit here and enjoy this wonderful movie that they don't even know they're a part of," the Kaiser smirked. "Come on, Iori. Hurry up and turn on them. I could use a bit of entertainment. They'll be so busy focused on you, they won't even have the time to destroy my Dark Towers or ruin any other plans of mine to take over this world!" 

Ken pushed a button on his keyboard, and a slot opened, revealing a microphone. Whatever Ken says through the microphone, the Head Garbamon and Head Gokimon would hear him. Each was wearing a small earpiece so as to obey Ken's instructions. It made it easier for Ken to give them orders without actually having to let everyone know about it, mainly the other Chosen Children. 

"Garbamon, Gokimon, I want you to let those Digimon escape, but let them only get far enough to reach their friends," Ken commanded. "After that, do whatever you want with them. I really don't care. When you hear arguing, go and check it out! You should see a small boy there arguing; one of those annoying Chosen Children. Help out the boy and his armadillo-like partner, and make sure to destroy the rest of them!" 

"Sir, yes sir!" the Head Garbamon and Gokimon saluted. 

Ken started to chuckle as Wormmon returned with his tea. 

"I _love_ this job, and this vacation is just what I needed," Ken smirked evilly. "I think I'll just hang out here all day and watch them get betrayed by their good friend." 

"Are you going to tell him what to do, master?" 

"I don't have to," he said, taking the tea filled cup. "He has so much of an annoyance towards them, he'll do just fine without my instructions, but if something goes wrong, I _will_ have to interfere." He took a sip of the tea that Wormmon had brought him. "Hey, this is really good, Wormmon." 

"Arigatou, Ken-chan!" Wormmon bowed, his spirits rising since Ken had thanked him. 

"Guess you're not as worthless as I thought, after all. You're probably the best Digimon friend I have," Ken mumbled, his tone very low. 

"Did you say something, sir?" 

"Eh-eh…NO!" Ken spat with a nervous sweat drop. "I said that I want you to go and, um, get me another lump of sugar for my tea!!" 

"Yes, sir." Wormmon said with a sigh. 'I heard what he said. He truly is kind, but he just can't admit to it. Maybe one day he'll turn back to the nice young boy I met a long time ago, and maybe he'll actually admit that he is.' 

With that, Wormmon left to get some more sugar for the tea, leaving Ken smiling at the big screen in front of him…   
****   
"Iori, are you okay!" Miyako asked, hurrying by his side, just as the others had. 

Iori sat up, holding his head some. He then muttered in a barely audible tone, "Ichijouji-sama…master…hurt Chosen Children…never listen…to me…friends are…fools…" 

"What did you say?" 

Iori shrugged to Koushirou and shook his head, as if he was trying to figure out his whereabouts. He then tried to stand up, but his legs were a bit weak, which failed him and caused him to fall back down. Jyou and Daisuke helped him up. 

Jyou then took out a canteen, which was filled with fresh water, from his bag, which were always filled with supplies and handed it to Iori. Even though Jyou's going to the Digital World was unplanned, he always kept supplies with him just in case something came up which would require him to go. 

After he visited the first time when he sensed something was wrong with Gomamon, he figured that he should always carry around extra supplies, like a First Aid Kit. Also, when he was on his way home, he had just come from school, and rushed straight to Odaiba Elementary, so he had it with him anyway. 

"Here, have a drink." 

"Thank you, Jyou-san," Iori said, accepting the water, gulping it down. 

"Take some breaths, Iori-kun," Jyou smiled at him, giving him a small pat on the back. "You don't want to choke, now." 

The boy nodded as he started to drink the water down a bit slower than what he was, still a bit shaken up and still breathing a bit uneasily. 

"I was holding on to him, I wonder why I wasn't shocked." 

"Maybe because Izumi-senpai went after his Digivice." 

"Wow, that was some fall! What happened, anyway?" 

"I don't know, Daisuke-san," Iori managed to say, after having depleting the canteen of its water. "My D-3 just started acting strangely again, then it felt as if something clasped around both of my wrists. Like bracelets, or maybe handcuffs. It then knocked me back into Jyou-san. It was like a wave was coming from my Digivice, or something." 

"Are you hurt? Is there anything we can do for you?" 

"No, but thank you for the concern, Mimi-san. I feel better now." 

"That's a relief," Miyako sighed out while wiping her brow with the back of her hand. 

Izzy stared at the little boy and got a pondering look, remaining in deep thought, tuning the others out completely. 

'Why did I get shocked when I tried to take his D-3? What exactly did he say after Jyou-san and Daisuke-kun helped him up? It sounded a bit harsh, to me, but I _must_ figure out that Digivice of his! Why did it react in such a manner and what did it react to?' 

"We need to form ourselves some kind of a plan to get past those Digimon," Jyou said after taking the canteen back from Iori. While Koushirou was in such deep thought, Iori had insisted on his being okay. 

"Yeah, but what can we do?" Takeru asked. 

"I wish my Palmon was here, along with all of the other Digimon, safe and sound," Mimi sighed. "That way, we wouldn't have to even worry about forming a plan to save them." 

"Um, I don't think you have to worry about that." 

"Huh, what do you mean?" Mimi questioned the goggle-headed boy. 

"Look at what the Gokimon and Garbamon are guarding." 

Mimi and the others looked over to where Daisuke had pointed. Mimi gasped at what she saw. Right out there, was a jail cell, which held their Digimon. 

"Palmon!" the girl cheered, jumping up and down. "It's my Palmon! Yay, Pal---" 

"Not so loud, Mimi-kun!" Jyou hissed, putting his hand over her mouth to muffle out her cheers. She nodded and Jyou removed his hand. "I'm surprised they didn't hear us already with what Iori went through just now." 

"It's all of our Digimon!" Koushirou said. 

"I only count five of them," Takeru noted. "One of them is missing." 

"Piyomon isn't there," Miyako said. "I guess she was never caught." 

"We have to save them!" Daisuke said. 

"Hmm, all we have to do is get rid of those disgusting, unsanitary Garbamon and Gokimon," Hawkmon said. "I suggest that we have Digmon get rid of them. A couple of us could cause a diversion, Tailmon Patamon, and myself, while V-mon, along with Armadimon attack." 

"Prodigious/Perfecto idea, Hawkmon!" both Koushirou and Miyako said in unison. 

"Yeah, Fladramon can toast all of them!" V-mon said, giving the "V" for victory. 

"And Digmon can knock the ground _right_ from under them!" Armadimon smiled. 

"Digmon could also destroy the Dark Towers," Patamon added. 

"Wait, are they working for the Digimon Kaiser?" Hikari asked. 

Mimi looked and shook her head. "It doesn't look like it. They're not wearing any Dark Spirals." 

"Looks like it's an attack and win situation again," V-mon said. 

"Yeah, looks like it," Patamon said, a bit unenthusiastically. 

"Well, I'm ready!" Armadimon said. 

"You know I am!" Tailmon purred. 

Iori hadn't been really listening to Hawkmon's plan. Instead, he felt highly unusual. 

"What is wrong with me?" the boy asked himself. "Why do I feel so strange? Why am I the only one going through such an ordeal?" 

Unable to answer his own questions, he felt his legs give way again, causing him to fall down to the ground. 

"Iori!!!" everyone called, Armadimon rushing to his human partner's side. 

"I'm very sorry," Iori apologized, standing up again. "Can Armadimon and I sit this battle out?" 

"We sure can, partner. If you're not feeling too well, then we shouldn't make you participate in a battle." 

Everyone else agreed with the armadillo's words, and that he and Iori should sit out the battle and that the others would take care of the fight. 

Each of the newer children, along with Takeru and Hikari, took out their D-3s, ready to head on into battle. 

"Hawkmon…" 

"V-mon…" 

"Tailmon…" 

"Patamon…" 

"Digimental…Up!" all four humans called out. 

All four Digimon evolved to their armored forms - V-mon evolving to Fladramon and Hawkmon evolving to Holsmon - ready to fight the group Gokimon and Garbamon. 

Izzy and Jyou noticed how uneasy Iori looked. Jyou noticed how he was about to fall out again and told Izzy. He nodded and made a suggestion to Iori. 

"Maybe you should go back home, Iori-kun," Koushirou suggested. 

"Yeah," Jyou agreed, "if you're not feeling too well, you shouldn't be here. You could be seriously ill and you should probably go see a real doctor. I don't know that much, just know a few things based on what my father's told me." 

"But I have to help you guys," Iori protested. 

"We know that you always fight your hardest when out here," Koushirou told him, "but you need some rest, or maybe some medical attention like Jyou-san said." 

"No, we're going to help battle! I must help…" Iori's voice then lowered some, a pitch lower than what it had ever been for a person his age, and his tone was a bit quieter, "…my master, Ichijouji-sama so that he can destroy you all!" 

The boy then shook his head as if regaining control of his thoughts. Mimi, Jyou, and Koushirou gave the boy a look of confusion. 

"Iori-kun…" Jyou started. 

"…are you feeling okay?" Mimi finished. 

'Something _must_ be wrong with him!' Koushirou concluded in thought. 'He keeps muttering to himself, and it doesn't sound too pleasant. He sounds as if he isn't himself talking, and I am almost _positive_ that I heard him mention something about Ichijouji…' 

"Oh, it's nothing," Iori insisted, holding out his D-3. "Armadimon! 

"I'm ready when you are, Iori!" 

"Digimental...Up!!" 

Armadimon tried to evolve, but he couldn't. 

"What happened?" Fladramon asked. 

"Why can't he evolve?" the giant, armored bird Digimon of love, Holsmon, questioned. 

"Maybe Armadimon needs to eat something," Mimi suggested. 

"No, I don't think so," Miyako disagreed. "They all ate before we left for the Digital World, like they always do. Right before you and Jyou-senpai bumped into us, actually." 

"He eats the most if you ask me," Hikari stated. "Weird how Upamon can eat as much as he does, and how he always seems to be hungry." 

"Sounds like another Digimon I know," Jyou sighed, wishing his Digital partner was there with him. 

"Gomamon," Pegasmon answered. 

"How are you feeling, Armadimon?" Nefertimon asked. 

"Really, really strange; mainly because I don't feel connected to Iori so that I can evolve." 

"Not connected?" Koushirou asked. "Is that really the key to evolving one's Digimon partner?" 

"I always thought so, but the others evolve without us all the time," Jyou noted. "I guess for armor evolving, like with our Digimon going perfect (ultimate), they need to be connected to their partner somehow." 

"With that logic, I guess so," Koushirou said. 

"I bet Iori is just really tired and for some reason, it's making Armadimon too weak to evolve," Miyako said. 

Iori just stood there listening to them. He didn't have a say in the matter and every time he tried to speak up, Takeru, Daisuke, or either Miyako, would cut over him somehow. 

"Iori, I think you should go back to the human world," Miyako insisted. 

"But---" 

"Yeah, niisan, Sora-san, and Taichi-san are still there, so maybe you can catch up with them and tell them what's going on." 

"But I---" 

"And let them know that their Digimon are going to get saved," Hikari smiled gently. 

"By us, of course!" Daisuke responded confidently, giving Iori a thumbs-up. 

"I'm sure they all sensed something was wrong with their partners and are probably worried sick about them," Mimi frowned. 

"I know I would," Jyou said. 

"I am not going back and you guys aren't going to make me!" Iori shouted at the older kids. 

Right at that moment, Iori's Digivice started to shake and glow again. Koushirou noticed, and figured that this would be the perfect time to inspect it. 

"Iori-kun, may I please borrow your Digivice? Just for a moment." 

"No, you jerks can not have my D-3!" he shouted as he held it close to his chest. 

Everyone stared in amazement, surprised at the way Iori had just addressed them... 


	10. Operation Save Agumontachi!

*Hi again everyone. I do not own any of this Digi-stuff. And as a reminder, I'm using Japanese terms and names, for example, in the original, they don't say, "Digi-Armor Energize"...instead it's "Digimental Up!" and Plotmon/Tailmon is Salamon/Gatomon's original name, Pegasmon is Pegasusmon's original name...Holsmon is Halsemon, Armadimon is Armadillomon, Chibimon is DemiVeemon, Piyomon is Biyomon, etc. Oh, and parts 1-9 were revised just to let you all know. Now on with the fic and don't forget those responses and reviews. ^_^* 

Part 10: Operation Save Agumon-tachi! 

Everyone gaped at the young boy, looks of amazement and astonishment on their faces. 

"I_o_ri!" Armadimon called, surprised to hear his human partner speak in such a way. 

Iori held his head, looking as if he was struggling to think on his own. He then shook his head again; finally feeling a bit composed, he noticed the look everyone was giving him. He was totally oblivious as to what had just happened or what he had just said. 

"What's the matter," he asked innocently of them. 

"Um, you just called us a bunch of jerks, and insulted us," Mimi stated, a bit surprised that Iori was acting as if nothing had happened. 

"That's definitely not like you," Miyako said, a bit worried over her friend's current mental state. 

"I wouldn't say anything that disrespectful to you all," the boy insisted. He then scratched his head in uncertainty. "I don't think I said anything like that…" 

"I say we forget about it, we have to save the other Digimon," Jyou whispered to Koushirou. "Let Iori-kun sit this fight out, we'll figure out what's wrong with him later, after the Digimon are freed. Besides, we'll be right here with him." 

"Good idea," Koushirou nodded. He then turned to face the others. "It's nothing, Iori-kun. You sit this fight out and let the others rescue the other Digimon." 

Jyou and Koushirou gave a look to the others so that they'd go along with them. 

"Um…yeah!" Daisuke caught on, noticing the looks Jyou and Koushirou were giving him. "Fladramon and the others can handle those weird Digimon out there!!" 

"Yeah, let's have Armadimon rest," Takeru added. 

"If Izumi-senpai thinks it's a good idea for you and Armadimon to rest, then it must be," Miyako smiled. 

"I was about to say the same thing," Mimi chimed in. 

"It was Jyou's idea, actually," Koushirou corrected. 

"Good idea, Jyou-senpai!" Mimi smiled with a thumbs-up. "He always comes up with good ideas too!" 

"You mean you don't mind if I sit this battle out? It is my responsibility as a fellow Chosen Child to help in the battles." 

"Nope, and we understand completely as to why," Hikari said, giving the youngest boy a gentle smile. "Now let's save all of our pals and trash those Garbamon and dispose of those Gokimon!" 

"Yeah!!" 

"Let's go, everyone!" Nefertimon instructed. 

"Nefertimon, you and Pegasmon destroy the Dark Towers; Fladramon and I will attack the Garbamon and the Gokimon and put them on the run. In the process, Daisuke-san and Miyako-san can go and rescue the others by freeing them." 

"Okay," the three other Armor Digimon agreed. 

"Right!" Daisuke and Miyako nodded, understanding Holsmon's instructions. 

Takeru hopped onto Pegasmon's back, just as Hikari did with Nefertimon, while both Daisuke and Miyako watched the fierce battle commence. 

It was a bit too dangerous for them to ride on their Digimon while they fought; besides, when they got the chance, they were going to go and open the cell to free the older kids' Digimon partners. 

"Hey, look up there!" a Gokimon pointed. 

"A bunch of pesky Digimon," one of the Garbamon sneered.   
****   
Meanwhile… 

"Hey guys, look!" Agumon pointed. He was curious what all of the commotion was and went to check it out. 

The other Digimon walked over to where Agumon was and looked at what he was pointing at. 

"It's Fladramon and Holsmon!" Tentomon said, grateful for the arrival of their Digimon allies. 

"Piyomon must've gotten through!" Palmon said in delight as she started to cheer and jump around ecstatically. 

"Look, Pegasmon and Nefertimon are over by the Dark Towers," Gomamon informed them. 

"If those two destroy them, then we'll be able to evolve and help them get rid of those stupid Garbamon and Gokimon!" Agumon said. 

"Hmm, it seems that Holsmon and Fladramon are creating a diversion so that Pegasmon and Nefertimon can destroy the Dark Towers," Gabumon noted after studying the four Digimon's fighting tactics. 

Palmon stopped jumping around and cheering and decided to see for her self what Gabumon was referring too. After taking a look, she nodded. "Yeah, it does seem that way. That's pretty smart of them."   
****   
Holsmon flew up to the large group of unsanitary Digimon, while Fladramon kept up on foot. 

"Hey, Gokimon," Holsmon gestured, "how about fighting against us!" 

"Hey, you're not supposed to be here!" one of the Gokimon argued. 

"And we're supposed to care because?" Fladramon sarcastically taunted. 

"Hold it right there," a Garbamon said, eyeing Fladramon and Holsmon, his canon in hand. 

"I told you those Gokimon were weak," Holsmon scoffed. 

"Yeah, if they were _really_ threatening, they would've attacked us by now." 

"If it's a battle that big bird wants, then let's give him one!" the Head Gokimon commanded. "Okay, *Gokimon Gundan, attack!" 

*Note: Gokimon Gundan, if I did that right, should mean Gokimon Troops* 

"Hai!" the rest of them nodded, going after Holsmon. 

All of the Gokimon attacked the bird of love at the same time, but Holsmon just turned and flew off, Fladramon running along with him, who was being tailed by the Head Garbamon, who had ordered his troops to attack. 

"I'll take on the Garbamon since you have your hands full with the bugs!" Fladramon called up to Holsmon. 

"Right!!" Holsmon nodded as he and Fladramon split up, his flying left, Fladramon leaping right. 

The Gokimon continued after Holsmon, all aiming and tossing out attacks at the bird.   
****   
RP: I really can't remember any attacks for Gokimon, meaning what they look like and stuff, so you all can have the fun of deciding what attacks they're using. ^^''   
****   
"I _really_ hate roaches!" he muttered as he continued to fly off. 

"And I don't like Thanksgiving Turkeys unless served with rolls and gravy with all of the trimmings," the Head Gokimon snubbed at Holsmon. "Gokimon, bring that giant rooster down!" 

Offended by the insult, Holsmon spun his body as a giant cyclone formed around him. He then launched the tornado like attack. "Tempest Wing!" his voice echoed. 

The wind from the spin blew most of the icky roaches back. Preparing to attack again, red beams about to shoot from his eyes, he noticed the Head Gokimon, and how he wasn't ordering his troops to attack him anymore; instead, he looked to be running away. Due to this, he refrained from using his "Red Sun" attack. 

"Gokimon Gundan, koutai!!" the Head Gokimon directed, way ahead of his troops. 

"Koutai?" Holsmon thought. "Retreat?" 

With that, all of the Gokimon rushed off in the opposite direction. 

"That was easier than I thought, a bit _too_ easy," Holsmon muttered warily as he watched the Gokimon rush off towards the horizon…   
****   
Meanwhile, over in another area… 

"Do you think you can withstand our sludge attack!" the Head Garbamon asked Fladramon, aiming his cannon at him. He didn't give the courageous reptilian the chance to respond. "Garbamon, attack!! Ready…Aim…Fire!!" 

Sounds of cannons went off as each of the Garbamon simultaneously shot at the armored Digimon. Flames started to engulf Fladramon's hand, as he watched the sludge heading towards him. "I don't think so," he said while shaking his head. "Knuckle Fire!!" 

He shot out a numerous, wild attack of fireballs, which burnt the icky, smelly pink sludge that the group of Garbamon had thrown at him. 

*Note: You all know that that pink sludge isn't really sludge and is just referred to as sludge for the dub...right? The original name for that attack where they shoot out that pink sludge with the cannons is "Poop Bazooka."* 

After destroying all of the sludge that was being thrown at him, Fladramon stared at the Garbamon in disbelief, and slight amusement. They had run out of ammo. 

"You're not so tough!" Fladramon scoffed, staring over at the dirty Garbamon group. "Is that all you got?" 

"No fair!" the Head Garbamon complained with a whine. "That was our best shot!" 

"You could _use_ some new fighting techniques! Fire Rocket!!" 

Scared of being hit by the fire-based missiles that Fladramon was sending out at them, the Head Garbamon did what he only felt was the best alternative for his situation. 

"Let's get out of here!" 

The other Garbamon didn't hesitate and took off, not wanting to get hurt, just as the Gokimon had.   
****   
Over at the Dark Towers… 

"How come these Dark Towers seem harder to knock down?" Takeru asked from atop Pegasmon's back." 

"I have no idea, but we have to destroy them!" A beam of light shined upwards towards the sky as a stone-looking tablet formed within it. "Rosetta Stone!!" the Egyptian, Sphynx-like Queen called, the stones ramming into each of the Dark Towers. 

Pegasmon's mane hair stood on end as he prepared for his attack. "Silver Blaze!!" Silver like beams shot from his mane, hitting both of the towers. 

'If only Digmon were here,' Hikari thought. 'He does such a good job when it comes to knocking down Dark Towers.'   
****   
Back, hidden away from the battle… 

"It seems like Pegasmon and Nefertimon are having a difficult time destroying those Dark Towers," Mimi informed the others. "If only our Digimon could help." 

"That's weird, it shouldn't be that difficult," Jyou said. 

Izzy wasn't really listening, but had more of an interest in Iori and that Digivice of his. He stared at Iori, who was staring blankly and expressionlessly at the battle being fought. 

"What is wrong with him..." Koushirou wondered in thought. 

Even though Holsmon and Fladramon had put the Gokimon and Garbamon on the run, the Digimon were still having trouble with the Dark Towers. No matter how hard they tried, or how powerful an attack they would use, they just couldn't destroy them. They could barely damage them. 

Jyou, Mimi, and Koushirou raced ahead of both Miyako and Daisuke, Iori and Armadimon trailing behind them, when they went to free their imprisoned Digimon friends. 

Gomamon and Palmon rushed over to Mimi and Jyou and hugged them tightly, as if this was going to be their last time seeing them. 

"Oh Palmon!" Mimi cried, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, hugging her grass-like Digi. "I just _knew_ something had happened to you." 

"Don't worry, Mimi, I'm okay now," Palmon smiled, her hug on Mimi growing tighter. 

"Hey there, pal," Jyou greeted, giving his partner a quick hug and then a high-five. 

"Hey Jyou," Gomamon greeted, that same, playful, outgoing tone he seemed to always have. "Glad you could make it." 

"You actually thought I wouldn't!!" 

"I never doubted you for a second." 

Both laughed, and Jyou gave Gomamon a handshake. "Same old Gomamon," the glasses-wearing boy smiled. 

"Hey, Tentomon, are you okay?" 

Tentomon huffed and flew over to Koushirou, landing right beside him. 

"My tree house!" he grumbled irritably. 

"Tree house?" 

Pegasmon and Nefertimon, along with Holsmon and Fladramon, gave up on the Dark Towers by the time the others had joined them, curious as to why the Dark Towers were still up. 

"I give up!" Nefertimon shouted out in defeat. 

"Those things _just_ won't budge!" Pegasmon complained. 

"Not even one scratch!" Fladramon sighed. 

"I'm getting pretty tired," Holsmon said as he laid down on the ground, tempted to devolve back to Hawkmon. 

"How about you guys take a rest for a while, you've earned it." 

"No way, Miyako!" Daisuke protested. "We _have_ to get rid of those things, even if it means us ramming ourselves into them!" 

"Um…I've always said that I was allergic to pain, and I still am." 

Mimi laughed a bit at Jyou's statement. "I haven't heard you complain in a long time about your allergies that you never seemed to actually have," she then whispered to Jyou, "but I'm with you on that one, I don't like purposely hurting myself either," she then went back to her normal tone of voice, "but if it means we have to help our friends, it's worth the sacrifice!"   
****   
RP: Just to let you know, for the original version, Jyou isn't allergic to anything and doesn't go around constantly complaining about his being allergic to everything.   
****   
"Daisuke is right! We have to get rid of them!" 

Mimi started to study the two towers. "But neither one of them has a scratch on it, Agumon, and Pegasmon, Holsmon, Nefertimon, and Fladramon are all trying their…hardest…" The girl trailed off, something on one of the towers catching her eye. 

"What is wrong, Mimi-san?" Koushirou asked, wondering why Mimi had become so quiet. 

"I see one little scratch on that one, right there," the girl responded, pointing to the Dark Tower on the left. "You guys made a scratch after all." 

"Aim for the scratch she saw, you guys!" Jyou instructed. "I'm sure that'll help some!" 

"Maybe we need more power," Nefertimon stated as she took to the sky. 

"How about we all attack at the same time, all together," Pegasmon suggested. "Agumon and the others could help too!" 

Everyone nodded. 

"I guess that leaves us out again," Palmon sighed to Gomamon. 

"Yeah, looks like it," the sea mammal grimaced. 

"Good luck you guys," Palmon smiled to the Digimon who could launch out attacks. 

"Okay Digimon, let's go!" Agumon instructed. 

"I'm helping too!" 

"Go right ahead and help, Armadimon. The more help, the better!" the electrical bug praised. 

"On the count of three every one," Daisuke directed. "Ichi, ni---" 

"MATTE!!" Mimi interrupted, causing Daisuke to nearly topple over from the outburst. 

*Note: Matte means wait, or hold on." 

"What is it," he asked. 

"I don't think Palmon and Gomamon should stand so close. They should move out of the way in case the Dark Towers fall in their direction." 

"Good idea, Mimi!" Palmon said. "Isn't my Mimi wonderful!" 

"C'mon, Palmon, let's move." 

Palmon and Gomamon moved out of the way and stood by Mimi. 

"Are we finished now?" Daisuke asked, irritation in his voice, anxious to hurry up and get the towers down. 

Every nodded. 

"Okay, now let's finish this now! On the count of three, everyone! Ichi, ni, san!!" 

"Silver Blaze!" 

"Curse of the Queen!" Nefertimon called, two beams of light shooting from her crown. 

"Ujat Gaze!" Holsmon called, white rings flying from his eyes into the Dark Tower. 

"Fire Rocket!" 

"Baby Flame!" Agumon called out as he hurled out the small, fireball. 

"Petit Fire!" Gabumon's voice echoed, a stream of blue fire shooting from his throat. 

"Petit Thunder!" 

"I'll finish this off since I can't throw out attacks in my child (rookie) form!" Armadimon said, preparing himself. "Rolling Stone!" 

Armadimon rolled himself up into a ball and launched himself into the Tower. Luckily, all of the attacks combined and Armadimon finishing it off with his "Rolling Stone" worked and the Dark Tower fell. 

"Yatta!" Daisuke cheered, pumping his fist into the air. 

*Note: That means, "Success" or "Hooray," something along the lines of that.* 

"Great job you guys!" Gomamon complimented. 

"Now you all try to knock down the other one and destroy it! It'll be so nice to be able to evolve to Togemon again." 

They all nodded and successfully knocked over the other one. Everyone cheered for them. Jyou then spoke up. 

"I don't know why, but it seems that those Garbamon and Gokimon gave up too easily." 

"Does it really matter?" Daisuke asked, not really caring one way or the other if their enemy Digimon had run off. He then gave the "V" for victory. "A victory is a victory!" 

"I guess," Jyou muttered, "but it still seems wrong to me…" 

"Well, now that everything is somewhat normal again, why not let me check out that Digivice of yours, Iori-kun," Koushirou asked, still determined to figure out why it was reacting the way that it was. 

Iori just stood there, staring blankly out into space, not hearing one word of what was asked by his predecessor. 

Both Mimi and Jyou called to the younger boy. "Iori-kun?" 

Iori still didn't respond, and continued to stare blankly, as if he currently had nothing on his mind. 

"Iori, Izumi-senpai called you," Miyako said, hoping to get his attention. 

When that didn't work, Daisuke walked up to the younger boy and started to wave his right hand in front of Iori's face. 

"Anybody home in there?" 

Iori didn't say anything and before anyone could blink, Iori grabbed the boy's wrist. 

"Hey, quit it! That hurts!" 

Iori continued to squeeze the goggle boy's hand harder, turning his wrist into an awkward position, which was causing Daisuke to kneel down a bit, but not entirely, from the pain that he was in. Daisuke kept trying to get out of his grasp, regardless of how much it hurt, but he wasn't succeeding. 

Everyone else just stood there, too surprised to actually do anything. 

"I never knew Iori-kun was so…strong," Hikari uttered in amazement. 

"Neither…did…I," Takeru managed to say, blinking dumb-founded. 

"Iori?" was all Miyako could say, her eyes as wide as saucers from the sight. 

"Guys, don't just stand there, make him stop!" Daisuke pleaded. 

The others were still dumb struck to do anything, mouths gaping open. 

"C'mon, stop! This hurts!" Daisuke cried, streaked tears of pain streaming down his face. "Okay, I promise to never use your Shinnai for Baseball practice, or for busting piñatas during my sister's International Club meetings when they're doing any Mexican customs ever again!" Daisuke groveled. "Just let me go!! Please!!" 

"Iori, let him go!!" 

Hearing Armadimon's plea, Iori let go of Daisuke's wrist, causing the Digimental Carrier of Friendship and Courage to fall to the ground. 

"Itete, itete, itete," Daisuke kept muttering while holding his wrist in pain. 

*Note: Itete means "Ouch"* 

Iori, ignoring Daisuke's mutters of pain, turned to face Koushirou, his eyes cold, blank, and dead. 

"Did you say something to me, Koushirou-san?" he asked, no feeling in his voice. 

"I-I just wanted to examine your Digivice, so that I cou---" 

"NO!!" Iori, once again, held his D-3 tightly up to his chest. "This is my Digivice and you can't look at it!" 

"I think something is wrong, just let me check it out," Koushirou responded, trying his best to remain calm. "Or better yet, let Miyako-kun check it out if you don't want me to." 

"No!! It's mine and you can't have it so there!" Iori yelled at Koushirou. 

The boy then did something that _no_ one had ever seen him do. He stuck out his tongue and pulled down his right eyelid, yelling out, "_Bii_da Bii!" while keeping a good grasp on his D-3 with the other hand. 

"Nya, nya, nya!" Iori taunted. He then turned to them and started to shake his rear end at the group, while patting it, still sticking his tongue out at them. "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers! Nya! And you can't get it back!" The boy then started to laugh as if he was that of a very young, spoiled child, playing a game and refusing to share. "Nya, Nya, Nya!" 

Everyone's looks were that of astonishment, their jaws dropped and their eyes wide. 

"Iori?" Miyako asked, a look of stress on her face as if she had been through a lot of turmoil. 

"It's official," Daisuke managed to say, "he has finally cracked!"   
****   
"He is acting like a spoiled child that has had too much sugar!" Hawkmon pointed out. 

"Iori would never act like that!" Armadimon insisted, defending his human partner. "He's as selfless as they come, and he always eats well-balanced meals!" 

"Iori normally acts mature for his age, not like a child his age." Tailmon thought for a moment, correcting herself. "No wait, that's wrong. He's acting _younger_ than a child his age. He's acting like a two or three year old who doesn't want to share a toy." 

"Any idea why?" Palmon asked. 

"Not at all," V-mon shook his head, just as puzzled as everyone else.   
****   
"Did he bump his head before Mimi-kun and I met up with you all today?" the doctor-in-training whispered to the others. 

They shook their heads and looked at Jyou, who sighed. He figured that they wanted him to figure out what was wrong since he was the oldest of the group. 

"Whoa boy, we have ourselves a problem," Jyou groaned as he rolled his eyes. He then turned to Iori, and started to speak to him as if he was his big brother. "C'mon, buddy, what's the matter? Why won't you let us look at your Digivice? If you do, I'll take you out for ice cream, and---" 

"I am not some stupid two year old!" Iori snapped at the older boy. "Stop trying to us the ice cream bribe on me!" 

"Gomen, gomen," Jyou apologized while waving his hands around with a nervous sweat drop. "I forgot how mature you are and how you aren't a baby." The boy then laughed a bit in nervousness for such an incompetent attempt to get Iori to open up. 

"Just remember that!" Iori threatened, giving Jyou a hateful, icy stare. 

"Um, yeah." Jyou ran his hand through his long, blue hair, trying to think of something else. "Now, why won't you let us look at your Digivice?" 

"My master wouldn't allow it," he stated simply. 

"Master?" every asked.   
****   
"Iori's grandfather knows about Digimon and about his D-3?" 

"Now why would you think that, Daisuke-kun?" Hikari asked. 

"Well, he is a Martial Arts Master," Daisuke pointed out. "Isn't that what he's talking about?" 

"I don't think he's talking about his grandfather," Takeru muttered while staring over at Iori, lots of different thoughts running throughout his mind. 'The Powers of Darkness; it's definitely playing some kind of a role here, but how?' 

"Then who else could he be talking about?" Daisuke asked. "I know he's not talking about the Digimon Kaiser." 

'Or _could_ he,' Takeru wondered in thought. 

"True, but I don't think it's his grandfather," Hikari replied to Daisuke's comment.   
****   
"I'm sure that your behavior is connected to your Digivice!" Koushirou insisted, growing a bit agitated over Iori's behavior. He wasn't used of such disobedience. He then firmly demanded, as if a parent to a child, his hand outstretched, "Let me check it out, Iori-kun!" 

"What part of _no_ do you not understand!!" Iori yelled as he smacked the redhead's hand away, his anger rising. 

"Iori, you leave me no choice!" 

Everyone stared as they saw what Koushirou did next, which showed how determined Koushirou was to get Iori's D-3 away from him. He charged after Iori and tried to take his Digivice away by force. 

Iori just smirked at Koushirou's attempt and moved out of the way, causing the computer whiz to nearly trip over, and to run past him. Iori then took this opportunity to elbow the boy violently in the center of his back. 

This caused Koushirou to fall to the ground, holding the part of his back where Iori had hit him. 

Koushirou stood up, looked over at Iori, his teeth gritted due to the pain he was currently in. Koushirou's eyes widened when he saw what he was doing next, Iori's eyes still currently lifeless. He picked up a nearby smooth stick, gave Koushirou a wicked look, and screamed out as he ran towards him. The boy swung the stick like he had with his bamboo sword (Shinnai) plenty of times when in his training Kendo sessions with his grandfather. 

Even though the stick wasn't big or tough looking, Iori's swings were brutal and strong. Koushirou screamed for him to stop after every hit Iori applied to him as he instinctively tried to cover himself to protect himself from the hits. He yelped out in pain every time he was struck, Iori laughing manically the entire time. 

Iori applied a blow to Koushirou's stomach, which caused the boy to bend over in pain, coughing a bit. Iori then applied one last blow to the head, which caused Koushirou to give out one more painful scream. 

Koushirou tried to remain standing, still trying to reach for the Digivice, "Io-ri-kun..." but his own strength failed him, as he slowly fell to his knees, and then to the ground. 

The encounter between Koushirou and Iori only lasted for a matter of mere seconds to those witnessing, since Iori was very fast and agile when applying his hits, but to Koushirou, it seemed like an entire lifetime. 

"IORI!!!" 

Iori just stood there, looking down at the now, slightly immobile Koushirou, smiling proudly at what he had done, both Tentomon and Mimi rushing to his side. 

"That's what you get for trying to take my D-3," he mumbled to him as he kicked the older boy in the stomach. 

The boy then felt a sharp pain in his head. He then held it in confusion, and sat himself on the ground, right beside Koushirou… 


	11. Birdramon to the Rescue!

*Hi again. Here's another part of my wonderful Digimon story...well, maybe not THAT great. (-_-). Don't forget to leave reviews and comments and let me know what you think. You can email me at either, pikato8270@aol.com or either SSJupiter@aol.com (this one preferably). Now, I do not own any of these characters and/or places you would find on the show, in the comics, etc.* 

Part 11: Birdramon to the Rescue! 

Iori noticed all of them staring at him again, with shocked expressions. He then stood back up as if nothing had happened at all. 

"What's wrong with you guys? You act as if you all have just seen a ghost." Iori then noticed the laid out Koushirou next to him, groaning and grumbling in pain, Mimi and Tentomon right by his side. This sight alarmed the young boy. "What happened to Koushirou-san!!" 

"Iori, are-are you feeling okay?" Miyako asked nervously and worriedly. 

"I am fine, but what about Koushirou-san! He needs medical aid!" 

"If you're okay, then why did you attack Koushirou just now like you were in some kind of martial arts competition!" Mimi demanded of the boy angrily, looking up from the spot she was kneeled in on the ground. "All he wanted to do was to check out your Digivice!" 

The goggle boy of the group wanted to be sympathized for as well, but no one really heard him. 

"Hello, over here," Daisuke waved with his good hand. "Boy's wrist was squeezed and twisted…feels like it was broken…" 

"And you hurt poor Daisuke-kun!" Hikari added after Mimi. "How could you hurt such a nice person! He didn't do anything to you!" 

"Neither did Koushirou!" 

A love-struck smile appeared on Daisuke's face, as well as a blush after Hikari had spoke about him. 

"She really _does_ care!" he thought while staring over at Hikari, hearts in his eyes. 

"What's with him?" Takeru asked, noticing the love-struck smirk plastered on Daisuke's face. 

"Who knows what's going on with him," Patamon bluntly stated. 

"Yeah, I know what you mean," V-mon then whispered to Patamon, "it's probably another Hikari moment for him." 

Patamon laughed. 

"I don't think you're in your right mind right now, Iori," Armadimon cautiously insisted. 

Takeru, Daisuke, Hikari, and the Digimon shook their heads as Iori clutched onto his Digivice tighter. 

"Why is he so possessive over that Digivice of his?" Patamon wondered out aloud. 

"It's bad to have something that you are obsessed over. I hope I never end up like that." 

Gabumon, along with the other Digimon sweat dropped from Tentomon's statement. 

"I'm not saying a word," Gomamon said. 

"Will you all just listen to me for a change!! I'm fine!! Koushirou shouldn't have tried to take my D-3 away! It is mine, not yours! The fool had it coming to him! He should've taken my warning much more seriously!" He then laughed a bit. 

"How can you laugh at poor Koushirou like that!" Mimi trembled, as she cradled Koushirou, who would occasionally give out a groan due to the pain he was feeling. His head was giving him the most trouble since Iori had hit him so hard there, just as Iori had his back. Koushirou was grateful that Iori didn't hit him hard enough to cause him to black out. At some points, during his encounter with him, he felt as if Iori was holding back. 

"Yeah, how _dare_ you hurt my Koushirou-han!" Tentomon argued, flying up into Iori's face, who only swatted him away with the back of his hand, causing him to land head first into the sand. 

"Tentomon!" Koushirou called out. 

"Iori-kun, there is something _definitely_ wrong with you," Jyou insisted, keeping a slight distance from the boy. "You would never act like this." 

"Forget about it," Koushirou groaned, wanting to get to Tentomon. "I'm...fine," he grunted. 

"Koushirou, you are _not_, fine!" Mimi scolded, forcing the boy to lie back down, his head resting on her lap. "Iori hurt you terribly, now lay here until Jyou-senpai can help you!" He felt a bit awkward for being in such a situation, lying on Mimi's lap, but he didn't mind _too_ much. 

"I am tired of all you second-guessing me! You never listen to me! You never take me seriously! Even when I'm right, you don't listen to me! Yesterday's battle was a good example of that! I told you not to trust him, but _no_," he screamed fiercely at them, "you wouldn't listen to me!" 

Iori then crossed his arms, anger and rage in his eyes. 

"You all would've been better off killed by that no-good excuse of a broomstick. Maybe then, you all would've learned that you should take little Iori a bit more seriously. Too bad it would've been too late since you all would've ended up dead!" He scoffed. "I wouldn't have cared!!" 

Everyone started to back away from Iori, Armadimon included. They were literally scared of him, especially after that death threat he had just delivered. 

"Why are we backing away so slowly from a nine year old?" Jyou whispered to the others. 'I don't know what he's capable of, we should probably be running, but we can't run anywhere with the condition Koushirou is in.' 

"Because _this_ nine-year-old kid is pissed, knows how to fight, and he can hurt your wrist badly if he gets a hold of it," Daisuke said, rubbing his sore wrist. 

"Not to mention that he just indirectly said that he wished all of us would've been killed yesterday in battle," Takeru added on to Daisuke's statement. 

"He normally doesn't yell at us either!" Hikari shook. 

"This just isn't right," Hawkmon said. 

"Iori would _never_ act this way!" Miyako said, as if she could cry. 

"You never listen to me, and believe me, you all _will_ pay for that grave mistake!" His tone of voice then turned to that of an angered one instead of a spite-filled one like it had been earlier. "Armadimon, we have work to do!" 

"But Iori, we rescued the others and we destroyed the Dark Towers. Why do you want me to evolve, and what are we going to battle against?" 

Iori got a dark, sinister look about him and darkly murmured, "You will soon see." Armadimon, nor the others, liked the tone in his voice when he said it. 

"Digimental Up…NOW!!" 

Armadimon tried to armor evolve but he couldn't; well, he didn't feel right trying to. When he finally did evolve, he felt nothing but pain and misery. 

"Armadimon, armor evolve…" he grunted, and then screamed out in pain, "D-D-Digmon…the wisdom of…" 

He didn't manage to finish as he fell to the ground. 

"Digmon!" Tailmon called in alarm. "What's happened to him!" 

Iori grew annoyed with this display of weakness and walked over to the digging, bug-like Digi. 

"Get up, Digimon, and do as I say!!" 

Iori hit him with the same stick he had Koushirou. Everyone stared on in shock. They just couldn't believe that someone like Iori was being so mean, not to mention yelling at them, something he never did. 

"Iori, stop that!!" 

After ordering the boy to halt, which obviously didn't work since Iori just ignored him, Daisuke ran up to Iori to hold him back, even though his wrist was still throbbing with pain. It really felt as if Iori had either sprained his wrist or even worse, broken it. 

Iori just growled out, "Stay away!" and pushed the older boy down roughly. 

"Daisuke!" V-mon and Miyako called. 

"Are you okay, Daisuke-kun?" Hikari asked in concern. 

"Nothing I can't handle," the boy said, giving them a lopsided grin and a thumbs-up. 

"What's...wrong with you, Iori," Digmon grunted between the hits. 

"Nothing! Have you not listened to a word I've said!" 

Right at that moment, Digmon felt linked to Iori again. The Digimon's eyes turned to a dark shade of red. Without thinking twice about it, he turned and attacked all of the others, Koushirou and Mimi currently the most open and vulnerable to such an attack. 

The other Digimon blocked off their partners off, luckily none of them were hurt, the Digimon included. Digmon had purposely missed them, using his "Goldrush" attack, shooting his drills at them. He didn't want to hurt them. Iori smiled with pleasure. 

"Good job, Digmon, but next time try and hurt them." 

"Why am I doing this? They are our friends, I don't want to harm them…" 

"Because you are my Digimon, and you have to no choice but to do as I say! I am in control of you through my D-3! Get rid of all of them! Ichijouji-sama has ordered me to!" 

"Iori-kun, how could you _say_ such a thing!" Hawkmon uttered in pure astonishment. 

"How could you work for someone so evil!" Tailmon shouted at the boy, her normally calm manner turned to that of an angered one. 

"When did _this_ happen?" Gomamon asked. 

"I'll show you! Because of you, I couldn't protect my tree house!" Tentomon glared at the boy, preparing to evolve. 

"Yes, he is going to evolve," Iori stated nonchalantly, not feeling threatened at all. "Go ahead." 

"Okay, I will!" 

Tentomon tried his best to evolve, but he couldn't due to Iori. For some odd reason, none of the others could evolve past their child (rookie) stage, unless it was to their armored forms, with the exception of Tailmon since she always had the energy to remain at her adult (champion) level, but they were all tired from their earlier battle. 

As a matter of fact, after they destroyed the Dark Towers, Holsmon, Nefertimon, Pegasmon, and Fladramon all devolved back to Hawkmon, Tailmon, Patamon, and V-mon since they needed to conserve their energy. 

"To answer your question, Hawkmon," Iori started, after laughing at Tentomon's feeble attempt to evolve, "Ichijouji-sama is my ruler and master! I only listen to one and only one, and that is the Digimon Kaiser! We will rule this world together, and you dim-witted morons will ignore me no more! For I am Hida Iori, and I will make myself known and heard to you ungrateful brats!" He then turned to his partner. "Digmon, attack them!" 

Digmon nodded, this time, he was fully under Iori's power. He no longer had control of his thoughts, and could only do what Iori told him. The only voice of reason that he could hear was Iori's. 

The bug was about to attack, when the group heard a voice call out, "Meteor Wing!" and in result, an inferno of flames hit Digmon, knocking him back. 

"Get away, everyone!" the group heard a voice belonging to that of a teen-aged girl call. "Iori isn't himself right now." 

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, curious whom it was who had saved them. 

"It's Sora and Birdramon!" Mimi pointed up towards the sky. 

"That's who attacked Digmon!" Jyou exclaimed. 

"Good thing, too," Koushirou managed to say as both Mimi and Jyou helped the computer whiz to his feet. 

Birdramon flew in, and riding on the bird-Digimon was Sora, along with two other people. A handsome blonde and a brown-haired boy, all three riding on Birdramon's back. Sora normally rode along on Birdramon's leg, but didn't want to take the chance in case she had to attack. 

"Taichi/Oniichan!" Agumon and Hikari called. 

"Yamato/Niisan!" both Gabumon and Takeru called out. 

Iori stared at Sora and Birdramon, his eyes narrowing in malevolence, realizing who it was that had prevented his Digimon from attacking. 

Birdramon landed, letting both Yamato and Taichi off. When they did, Hikari rushed over and gave her big brother a big hug. 

"Hi, oniichan!" the girl greeted with a perky smile. 

"Oh good, you're still safe," Taichi said in relief. He then noticed the small orange, reptilian Digimon beside her. "Agumon!" 

"Taichi!" 

"Great to see you again, Agumon! I was worried about you." 

"Nothing I can't handle. I had everything under control until Birdramon came along." Agumon then smugly said, "I had them right where I wanted them." 

"_Sure_ you did," Taichi laughed. 

"Looks like you all are holding down the fort," Yamato said, his arms crossed, to Takeru. 

"I haven't done much of anything lately. I'm nothing but a jinx!" Takeru grumbled, angered at him self. 'We should've listened to Iori-kun,' Takeru thought sadly. 'We should've taken him seriously! I knew something wasn't right earlier, and I even _sensed_ that it had something to do with Ichijouji, but I didn't say anything.' He then gave an inward sigh, 'This is all my fault...' 

"Why would you say something like that?" Gabumon asked, wondering why Takeru would think of himself as a jinx. 

"I think he's still upset over Hikari's getting kidnapped by the Digimon Kaiser and his encounter with Pinocchimon yesterday," Patamon whispered to the dog-like Digi. "He's been really beating himself up over it." 

"Pinocchimon?!" Gabumon questioned. 

Taichi, who had overheard Patamon, who couldn't whisper if his life depended on it, turned to his sister. "Hikari, that Kaiser creep kidnapped you!!" 

Takeru gave Patamon a look of annoyance, who could only respond by saying, "Oops." 

"Why didn't you say anything to us!" Yamato demanded. 

"It doesn't matter," Takeru snapped. "Just forget about it!" 

'Wow, Takeru sounds a bit stressed,' Daisuke noticed. 'I wonder why.' 

"We didn't want to worry you, oniichan." 

"Where is he!" Taichi growled as he pounded his right fist into the palm of his left hand. "How dare he abducts my little sister!" 

"I want to know more about the Pinocchimon thing!" Jyou said. "How could you encounter him if he was destroyed by Yamato and MetalGarurumon?" 

"He was creepy, and had the weirdest idea of how to have fun!" Mimi shuddered. 

"I didn't know about that either," Koushirou said as he made sure not to lose his balance on both Jyou and Mimi, who were still holding him up, an arm around each of their shoulders. Mimi was slightly shorter than him, not by much, and Jyou towered him. Keeping his balance was somewhat a challenge. "Would you guys mind explaining that?" 

Iori was starting to grow very impatient. During their conversations, he was trying to get their attentions, but every one was so focused on Taichi, Yamato, and the events of the previous day, that they didn't even notice Iori's attempts to get their attention. 

Before the younger kids could explain the events of the previous day fully, or at all pretty much, Sora yelled down to the others from Birdramon's back. 

"Everyone, get out of here and let Birdramon and me fight and hold off Iori and Digmon! He's preparing to have Digmon attack you all again!" 

"You can't, Sora-san! You might end up hurting Iori!" 

"Miyako-chan, I have no choice! He'll end up killing all of us if we don't fight against him! Just get out of here before you all get hurt, and by the looks of things, Koushirou-kun already looks hurt somewhat. Yamato and Taichi will explain the entire thing to you…just get out of here!!" 

"But…but Iori!" Miyako nearly cried, her eyes glistening a bit, but no tears falling. "I don't want him to get hurt." 

"No one mentioned anything about _my_ getting hurt," Daisuke muttered selfishly under his breath. 

Koushirou let go of both Jyou and Mimi and limped his way over to Miyako to try his best to comfort her, but not in the physical sense. 

"Don't worry, Miyako-kun, Iori-kun will be fine. She's just giving us some time to get away. We will get him back to normal as soon as we figure out how and what caused him to change in the first place." 

"You promise?" Miyako sniffled a bit. 

"Cross my heart and hope to die," Koushirou smiled. "I promise to try my best to help get him back to his normal, polite, selfless self." 

Mimi walked up beside Koushirou and held Miyako's hand. "I know how you feel, Miyako-chan. I hate fighting too, especially if it's a good friend, but Koushirou is right." 

"Did she just voluntarily say you were right?" Jyou asked in disbelief. 

"I'm just as surprised as you are," Koushirou blinked. 

Miyako looked at Izzy and then at Mimi and nodded. 

"Come on guys, let's get out of here!" Taichi urged, running off, Agumon and his sister by his side. 

Everyone nodded and started off, Mimi still helping Koushirou along who had insisted on his being fine enough to run on his own. She didn't want to take any chances, and stuck with him. 

'Iori-kun, I know you aren't yourself right now, but I can't let you hurt the others!' Sora thought, bracing herself to have to fight against a person who was once her ally. "C'mon, Birdramon, attack Digmon to keep him from harming the others! We'll just stick with attacking Digmon until everyone is in a safe distance away from here." 

"Okay Sora!" 

Birdramon was about to attack using her Meteor Wing, but Iori only chuckled darkly at Sora, seating himself on top of Digmon's back. Digmon then took out his wings, which were always very well hidden under his bug-like skin. He then flew up, preparing to attack Birdramon using his Gold Rush attack. 

Sora froze. She didn't know that Digmon could fly, and she knew that she couldn't have Birdramon attack Digmon if Iori was riding on him. 

"We can't attack Digmon now, Birdramon! We might end up hurting Iori! We just have to dodge Digmon's attacks!" 

"But what else can we do if I can't defen---" the bird managed to say before letting out a loud, echoing screech of pain. 

"Birdramon, what's wrong!" 

Since Digmon had flown so close to them, and Iori was now very close to them, Birdramon only felt great pain. The pain was so unbearable that she could barely keep her strength up. 

Her strength felt as if it was just taken away from her, which caused the giant, bird-like Digimon to devolve back to Piyomon, which wasn't the type of Digimon that a human could ride on due to her being so small. 

Sora started to plummet towards the Earth, as well as Piyomon, who was so depleted of energy, she could barely flap her wings in an attempt to save herself or Sora. 

Sora instinctively screamed out, which alerted the others to turn to see what was happening. 

They all breathed out in fear as they saw the elegant Tennis Player, heading towards her doom, to the sandy desert floor below… 


	12. Sora's Rescue!

*Hi again. Here's another part for your reading pleasure. Enjoy. Oh, and don't forget to leave reviews and comments and let me know what you think. You can email me at pikato8270@aol.com if ya want. Now, I do not own any of these characters and/or places you would find on the show, in the comics, etc.* 

Part 12: Sora's Rescue! 

"Help me!!" 

"Oh no!" everyone gasped. 

"SORA!!!" Taichi stared. 

"Somebody save her!" Yamato panicked, turning to the Digimon. 

"She'll be killed!" Takeru shouted out. 

"Why doesn't Piyomon try to fly and save herself!" Hikari wondered. 

"I would evolve to Kabuterimon, but I can't, even though the Dark Towers have been destroyed." 

The other Digimon were in the same boat and frowned. They too couldn't evolve for some strange reason, even though the towers had been destroyed. 

Iori smiled as he watched Sora falling towards the ground, like a rag doll being thrown out of a window. He then ordered Digmon to land. 

"Yes, Iori!" 

Digmon landed to the ground, Iori hopping off of his back. 

"One less Chosen to worry about," Iori sneered with an evil chuckle, "even though she was never a threat to begin with." 

"Hawkmon, armor evolve to Holsmon! That way, you can fly up and catch both Sora-san and Piyomon." 

The hawk looked up and Miyako and shook his head slowly, a frown on his face, and an apologetic look in his dark eyes. 

"I am sorry, Miyako-san," the bird apologized. "I can not evolve because of the battle we had earlier, and our having to knock down those Dark Towers. I haven't regained all of my energy yet." 

Taichi looked as if he were going to have a nervous breakdown, as he watched his friend fall faster towards the Earth below her, not knowing what to do to help her, as the others. 

"Sora," Piyomon barely uttered, a weak, deathly tone to her voice, "I'm sorry…I…couldn't….protect…you…" 

"Piyomon…" Sora stared over to her partner, feeling like crying since she felt so sorry for her. 

From the ground, Taichi continued to stare up at the sky, debating in his mind on what he should do. 'I promised to protect you, even when were kids I promised you that! Back when you were kidnapped by Nanomon (Datamon) I made that promise to myself to help keep you, as well as Hikari, safe and to always try to protect you! I intend on keeping that promise!' He then shouted, "SORA, HANG ON!!!" 

Taichi took off like a bullet from a gun. The boy just couldn't take seeing one of his good friends in danger any longer. 

Sora seemed to be falling a lot faster than Piyomon, which was pretty strange to the girl, science wise, but she didn't care too much. She felt herself inching closer and closer towards the ground. She knew what was in store for her, and that her end was near. She then felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks, and then closed her eyes, awaiting her fate. 

"Taichi, where are you going!" Jyou called after the boy had run off. 

"I see why he ran off!" Mimi realized while acting as Koushirou's support. Ignoring the puzzled looks everyone was giving her, she turned her attention towards her Digimon partner. "Palmon, I have an idea to help Taichi! My guess is that he's going after Sora!" 

"What's the plan, Mimi?" 

Mimi let go of Koushirou, and kneeled down and whispered into Palmon's ear. She nodded, and ran off as fast as she could, hoping that she wouldn't be too late. 

"Goodbye, Piyomon; good bye, kaasan; good bye, Taichi; good by, everyone," Sora whisperred as she closed her eyes. 

Sora knew that she would be dead any moment now. She braced herself for the pain that she was about to feel, her short life flashing before her eyes. 

All of a sudden, Sora felt herself hit the ground. Sora's eyes were still closed, and she wondered why she hadn't felt any pain, or anything remotely close to pain. Piyomon was the same; she too wondered why she was feeling no pain. Instead of the two feeling pain or any kind of discomfort, both felt as if they were being held. 

Sora slowly opened her eyes, curious as to why she was feeling held, yet lying on the sandy ground at the same time. She looked over, and saw familiar soccer player she had known the majority of her life. It was Taichi who was holding her. He had dove just in the knick of time to catch her. He was laying face down, his uniform jacket dirty, but he didn't care. Sora was safe, and that was all that mattered to him. 

Taichi then used all of his strength to stand himself up, even though he was still holding on to Sora. The girl was surprised as he remained holding her in his arms, even after he had stood up. 

Palmon caught Piyomon; Mimi had instructed Palmon to use her vines to catch Piyomon, since she figured Taichi was going to try his best to catch Sora, and she didn't want Palmon to interfere with Taichi, worried of accidentally distracting him. 

"Good catch, Taichi-senpai!" Daisuke rooted to his mentor. 

"Palmon too!" Gomamon cheered. 

"That's the way you're su_pposed_ to catch a person," Miyako told Daisuke, her arms folded. 

"She was falling and he wanted to help her and he was expecting her!" Daisuke retorted. "You were _thrown_ at me!" 

"You _still_ could've done a better job catching me yesterday!" Miyako argued. 

"Why I oughta---" 

"Quit it you two!" Takeru interrupted before Daisuke could step up to Miyako, which he was about to. "Sora-san is safe, and that's what's important." 

"Sorry, Daisuke," Miyako apologized, realizing that what she said was a bit unnecessary. 

"Yeah, same here, Takeru's right." 

"Yeah," Miyako nodded. "She's safe, and that's all that matters." 

"Taichi?" Sora asked, still trying to get over the shock of falling so many feet from the air, and being caught by her best friend. 

Taichi put her down and smiled nervously. 

"Yep, it's good old me. I couldn't let one of my best friends and soccer partners die on me now, could I?" 

"I-I guess not," Sora stammered slightly. 

He flashed her a playful smile. 

"Thanks a lot, Taichi!" 

"At least you aren't heavy!" 

"Thank you for the compliment," Sora lightly laughed. She then turned to Palmon and gave her a giant hug. "And thank you, Palmon, for saving Piyomon." 

"It was my Mimi's idea, actually. I wish I could have thought to do that myself." 

"Are you all right!" Mimi asked, running up to Sora, giving her a big hug. "It's been so long since I've seen you last." 

"I'm fine, thanks to you and Taichi," Sora said while hugging the girl back. 

Everyone else also gathered around the two as they began to chat away over everything that had just happened. 

While everyone was questioning Sora, an annoyed Iori tried his best to get their attention. 

"Will you all just be quiet and listen to me!" the younger boy demanded. 

Everyone else continued to talk, Sora answering question after question… 

"Was that fall really scary?" V-mon asked. 

"Are you _certain_ you're okay?" a concerned Yamato asked. 

"Is Piyomon going to be okay?" Daisuke asked, pointing to the bird lying in Sora's arms, pretty much out of it. 

"Well, you guys, I---" 

"That's _it_! I am tired of being ignored!! You all _will_ listen to me!!" He then glared at them angrily and screamed, "You _will_ remember the one that is Hida Iori! Digmon…attack!!" 

"I don't think we should be talking here," Jyou stated. "We really ought to get out of here." 

"A most excellent idea," Hawkmon nodded, just as anxious to get away from the deranged Iori. 

"Let's get out of here," Sora said as she held Piyomon. 

They all ran off as far as they could until Iori couldn't find them, both Koushirou and Mimi bringing up the rear. 

The group ran so far off, they didn't care where they ended up, just as long as Iori and Digmon couldn't catch them. 

When they finally felt safe in their strange, new location, the group rested. Mimi was the most tired, though, since she was still wearing her platform boots. Next would've been Koushirou. Mimi didn't help him to run, but he was still in pain. His back still bothered him, and with every step he made, he inwardly yelped a bit in slight discomfort. Right now, a bottle of aspirin sounded good to him. 

After stopping, Mimi wiped her brow with her right hand when she felt something slip off. She then noticed that her hand was a bit bare. She then kneeled down and started to look through the grass. 

"What are you looking for?" Daisuke asked, puzzled at Mimi's actions. 

"My ring…it slipped off my finger just now." 

"The ring you got a while ago as a present?" Sora asked. 

"Yeah, that's the one," the girl nodded as she continued to search through the grass. "Palmon, could you help me find it?" 

"Sure thing, Mimi! What does it look like?" 

"I'm sure you'll know it when you see it. There probably aren't too many rings here in the Digital World." 

"It sure would be nice if they found my Holy Ring instead," Tailmon muttered, still disgusted over the fact that she had lost it months earlier when she had first encountered the Digimon Kaiser.   
****   
"Wow, they sure weren't kidding about Mimi," Taichi said as he stared over at the skirt-wearing girl while she and Palmon searched for her ring. "She's really changed in appearance." 

"Yeah, she's quite pretty," Yamato stated plainly. 

"Yeah, she is pretty," Jyou said with an oblivious, longing sigh. 

"I admit, she's always been pretty, but she's _really_ good-looking now!" Taichi complimented. 

"I bet she has trouble with all of the guys, like I do with all of the girls." 

"Wish_ I_ had that problem," Jyou muttered, giving out a wistful sigh, "then she'd probably notice me, but she hasn't since she's been back. She's been talking about that Michael guy and helping Koushirou." 

"Did you say something?" Yamato asked. 

"No, no, not at all," the boy insisted, starting to sweat a bit in nervousnes. "I should really take a look at both Daisuke-kun and Koushirou for their injuries. I'm sure I have something in my kit that could help." 

With that, Jyou walked off before Taichi or Yamato could even ask what happened to both Daisuke and Koushirou. Jyou went over to Daisuke, first, since the boy was still holding his wrist and seemed to act more in pain than Koushirou currently did. 

"You know, I bet that if you and Mimi ever hooked up, you'd never have a moment's rest!" Taichi laughed. "Boys are probably always going after Mimi and girls are always after you!" 

"Ehh, don't remind me. It gets pretty annoying after a while," Yamato shuddered, thinking of Jun. 'If only she would calm down and stop being so…pushy, I guess. At least let us be friends first. She seemed okay when I first met her, it's just everything _after_ that…'   
****   
"I found it, Mimi!! I found it!" Palmon announced as she held out the small, gold ring with the pink jewel with her vines. 

"Thanks, Palmon." Mimi took the ring and slipped it back onto her finger. 

"Wow, where did you get that from?" 

"Well, Miyako-chan, it was a present from Michael to celebrate our being friends." The girl then smiled. "He's _so_ nice." 

"Wow, that ring sure is pretty," Miyako managed to say without sounding jealous. 

The girl inwardly frowned as she studied Mimi's features. 

'She's lucky, I wish some boy would give me attention like that. Even Izumi-senpai has been acting a bit strangely around her, and so has Jyou-senpai.' She glanced over at Taichi and Yamato. 'Even _they're_ starting to stare at her! Give it up, Miyako, no boy would want to ever get with you or give you that much attention. 

'The most attention I've ever gotten from a boy was Iori, but he doesn't count. He's like the little brother I never had, and I sometimes feel a bit responsible for him. Izumi-senpai only pays a lot of attention to me whenever we're working on something dealing with the Digital World or either when he's helping me with something dealing with computers during my Computer Club meetings whenever he visits Odaiba Elementary. Other boys in school only pay attention to me when they need help with homework assignments.' She sighed. 

"Yeah, it is," Mimi replied to Miyako while looking at her ringing, patting off some of the dirt. "It even has my favorite color stone...pink." 

"I wish a cute and handsome guy would give me a present like that," Sora said. 'or _any_ present for that matter.' 

The Tennis playing girl glanced over in Taichi, Yamato, and Jyou's direction - who was now wrapping up Daisuke's wrist - staring at one of them in particular, wishfully. Taichi and Yamato were now with Jyou, trying to get information out of him as to what had happened to Daisuke's wrist. Luckily for Daisuke, his wrist wasn't broken, just sprained. Jyou had also explained to them about what Iori had done to Koushirou. 

'I can only dream,' the girl thought. 

"I'm sure some boy will. You're a pretty girl as well a nice one." Mimi then asked to no one in particular, "How come Iori-kun is so mean now?" 

"My guess is that it has something to do with that Digivice of his," Koushirou responded as he remained seated on the ground, his back against a tree. 

"You're partially right," Yamato said as he walked over to Mimi. 

"Yeah, he's right," Sora nodded, Piyomon still in her arms. "We got a message from an old friend that you all were going to be in trouble and that the trouble was going to be Iori-kun." 

"Wait a minute," Miyako intervened, "how did you three get here without Daisuke, Iori, Takeru-kun, Hikari-chan, or me to open a gate for you?" 

"The message we got also told us where a random gate was open." 

"So, who was the message from?" Jyou asked. "It couldn't have been from one of us." 

"Gennai," the three said. 

"Gennai-san?!" Takeru, Hikari, Mimi, Koushirou, and Jyou asked in surprise. 

"Gennai?" both Miyako and Daisuke questioned in bewilderment. 

"But how…" Mimi gasped out. 

"We don't know how or even where he contacted us from," Sora explained. "He knew about everything that was going on and warned us about Iori. He then told us about there being a gate open at OJH, someplace in Tokyo in the band room." 

"It took us a while to figure it out since we lost our connection with him before he could explain more," Taichi added. "He didn't even tell us what district of Tokyo. I mean, he could've meant the main city of Tokyo, or Shinjuku, or Tamachi, or some other place, until Sora remembered Gennai saying Odaiba. Either way, we still didn't know where to go, but with that aside, we used the main clue he gave, which was that 'Yamato knows this place well.'" 

"We put two and two together and came up with the solution," Sora smiled proudly. 

"The place was Odaiba Junior High, the band room. I'm always there during my free period practicing with the guys." 

"The computer in the band room had a gate screen up, and it was just open, like it was waiting for us to go through it," Sora continued, a bit of puzzlement in her voice. "The coordinates were already set too." 

"When we first got here, we were sorta lost since we were still a good ways off from you guys," Taichi said with a goofy grin. 

"And you and Yamato's arguing wasn't helping the situation any, either!" 

Taichi gave out a small, light, embarrassed chuckle as Yamato continued where Sora left off... 

"We then ran into Piyomon who told us about the Digimon Kaiser and how he had all of them trapped. She also told us of how Wormmon single-handedly captured them." 

"So to find our way back, Piyomon evolved to Birdramon so that we could fly back and rescue the other Digimon," Sora said. 

"We figured that you all would've been there too." 

"Or would've gotten there eventually," Yamato added on to Taichi's statement. 

"Wait, I want to know how Gennai-san knew about this and where he's been for the past couple of years. We haven't heard anything from him since we sacrificed our crest powers," Koushirou said as Jyou started to look him over. 

"That's the strange thing, he didn't say," Sora said. "We were going to send you an e-mail, but he said that it wouldn't have gotten through to you guys because the connection was shot." 

"Yet, he communicated with us…" Yamato uttered. 

"Remember what Sora said earlier about that comment Gennai made," Taichi said to Yamato. 

"Oh yeah, she brought up the fact that he said, 'I know about everything that goes on in the Digital World, even if I'm not there physically anymore.'" 

"Not here physically?" Koushirou asked, a true look of confusion on his face. 

"What on Earth does he mean by that?" Jyou asked as he started to bandage up Koushirou's head, where Iori had hit him. 

Everyone shrugged. Miyako and Daisuke had looks of perplexity on their faces, not sure as to whom this Gennai person was. 

"Um, I'm sorry for interrupting this little reunion here, but who exactly is Gennai, and what are we going to do about Iori?" 

Takeru explained to Daisuke about how they knew Gennai and how he helped them out three years earlier and how they had to sacrifice their natural crest powers, etc. 

"Good, now that we know of this Gennai guy, what do we do about Iori?!" Miyako asked, anxious to hurry up and help her friend. 

"Yeah, that's right! We have to help him, but first," he looked over at his sister, "I have some questions for Hikari…" 

"…and I have some for Takeru!" 

"What happened yesterday and what do you _mean_ you had to fight against Pinocchimon!!" both brothers asked in unison. 

Takeru and Hikari sweat dropped in embarrassment. 

"Do you think they'll _ever_ stop babying us?" Hikari asked Takeru. 

"As long as we're younger than they are, I doubt they ever will," Takeru responded, just as embarrassed as his friend. 

Daisuke, Miyako, Hikari and Takeru started to explain what happened to them yesterday with Puppetmon and the Digimon Kaiser fully this time. 

"That jerk! Agumon, we're going to kick some Kaiser butt!! No one hurts my sister and friends and gets away with it!" 

"Yeah, I'm ready to fight, Taichi!" 

"You too, Gabumon!" 

"Right, Yamato!" 

"Hey, don't forget us!" Tailmon and Patamon chimed. 

"And we should certainly like to help as well, right V-mon!" Hawkmon asked, turning to his blue friend. 

"Wherever Tailmon goes, I go!" V-mon smiled. 

"That's nice…I think…" Tailmon muttered. 

"Now how are you all going to forget about us?" Tentomon asked, feeling a bit hurt for being left out. "We want to help too! The Digimon Kaiser is going to pay for hurting my Koushirou-han!" 

"Yeah!" both Palmon and Gomamon beamed. 

Piyomon jumped out of Sora's arms and landed to the ground, but her legs didn't allow her to land exactly right. She then tried her best to stand up. "Me…too," she grunted as she fell back down to the ground. 

"Piyomon, you are too weak to battle anymore. You sit this battle out," Sora instructed. "You were very helpful already. You helped Yamato, Taichi, and me find the others." 

"Sora's right, Piyomon. You rest," Taichi smiled at the bird. "We'll try to think of some way to get Iori and Digmon back to their normal selves." 

"Out of curiosity, how did all of this start?" Yamato asked. "When did he start acting weird? It's still hard to believe that he hurt Koushirou the way Jyou said he did." 

"Well, he was pretty mad yesterday after we came back from the Digital World," Miyako said as she tried her best to recall the events of the previous day that included Iori. "I don't know if he was changing then or not, but it isn't like him to get mad, not at us anyway." 

"He has also been pretty edgy lately, and that is nothing like Iori-kun," Hawkmon spoke up. "He is usually quite calm." 

"Hmm, well, what about his Digivice?" Takeru brought up. "It kept vibrating. Koushirou-san figured that his Digivice had something to do with his sudden change." 

"Right now, he's working for the Digimon Kaiser, so he says," Daisuke said. "Do you think he's telling Iori to attack us, or do you think he did that at his own free will?" 

"I don't think the Digimon Kaiser is," Hikari said while shaking her head. "I think Iori-kun was acting on his own, but the Digimon Kaiser has turned him against us somehow through his Digivice. If we could only stop him!" 

"If I could _only_ get his Digivice so I can figure out what's wrong!" Koushirou said, standing up. 

"Yeah, that _must_ be the root of the problem!" Miyako agreed. "He started acting weird after that bad shock from it." 

"It's like he's wearing a Dark Spiral or Ring." 

"Yeah," Tentomon said in agreement with Hawkmon. "You see how evil the Digimon get when they wear them." 

"Don't remind me! It was awful! I couldn't control my actions! It was like I was SkullGreymon all over again!" 

"You _were_ SkullGreymon at one point when the Digimon Kaiser was controlling you!" Tentomon reminded the orange reptile. "He made you dark evolve, remember?" 

"Oh yeah, that's right!" 

"He reminds me of a controlled Digimon now." Tentomon shook his head and tsked. "Just to think, he used to be such a good boy." 

"Do you think that…that it's possible for a human to be controlled using Dark Spirals?" 

"No way, Miyako!" Daisuke insisted. "They're for Digimon! I'm sure they'd have to be _really_ powerful to work since humans aren't digital. Besides, we didn't see any. They're called dark for a reason, other than the fact that they symbolize evil, the color black that is." 

"Daisuke-kun _may_ be right," Hikari nodded. "I doubt he's wearing an Evil Spiral. We would've seen it since it's black." 

Jyou frowned at that possibility, and shook his head, not wanting to believe it. He then recalled something Iori had said earlier... 

_"My D-3 just started acting strangely again, then it felt as if something clasped around both of my wrists. Like bracelets, or maybe handcuffs. It then knocked me back into Jyou-san. It was like a wave was coming from my Digivice, or something."_

"I think you're right and wrong," Jyou spoke up. 

"How can they be both?" Yamato retorted. 

"Think about it, maybe he isn't using a spiral at all." 

"Do you suppose he could be using one of those Evil Rings?" Sora asked. 

Jyou nodded. "Two, to be exact." 

Izzy caught on to what Jyou was implying, just as Miyako and Takeru were. 

"I agree with your theory," Koushirou nodded to the older boy. 

"Iori _did_ say that after his bad shock, it felt like something clasped onto his wrists!" Miyako recalled. 

"Do you think that his D-3 attracted something similar to Ichijouji's rings and spirals?" Takeru asked. 

"That's _exactly_ what I'm thinking!" 

"And whatever those things are, are on his wrists!" Mimi exclaimed. 

"But how are we going to get whatever it is that's controlling him off if we can't see them and if he has Digmon ready to attack us on sight?" Sora asked. "Digmon just seems a bit stronger compared to the average Digimon. I sense that he's a lot stronger than our Digimon right now, and he's just an armor." 

"Leave that to us," Agumon said with a thumbs-up. 

"Yeah, even evil Digimon have to run out of energy sooner or later if they aren't on that level naturally," Palmon explained. "Remember when Greymon evolved to SkullGreymon the first time? He ran out of energy and devolved back to Koromon. Sure he went back to his Baby II (In-training) form, but it was cool. We all lived." 

"That Greymon he fought sure didn't," Tentomon muttered. 

"We should create some kind of a diversion so that you guys can have a chance to get Iori back to normal," Gomamon suggested. 

"Yes, you guys should find the source of the problem." 

"But Hawkmon, we already know what's causing the problem, his Digivice." 

"That maybe so, Koushirou, but whatever is controlling Iori now, his Digivice is attracted to it," Gabumon stated wisely. "Find the place where, whatever it is, that's controlling him came from." 

"Oh, I get it," Taichi said. 

"That's not going to be easy," Miyako said. "We don't even know where to start. We destroyed the Dark Towers that were around here. Normally, that's the source of the rings and spirals' power." 

"I wish I had my laptop so that I could input all of this information, so as to keep up with everything." 

All of a sudden, a gate back to the real world appeared behind them and something came through. A small, yellow pineapple laptop computer with a familiar looking backpack filled with accessories to go along with the laptop. It landed right at Izzy's feet. Everyone looked on in shock and surprise... 


	13. Formulating a Plan!

*Hi again. Here's another part of my wonderful Digimon story...well, maybe not THAT great. (-_-). Don't forget to leave reviews and comments and let me know what you think. You can email me at either, pikato8270@aol.com or either SSJupiter@aol.com (this one preferably). Now, I do not own any of these characters and/or places you would find on the show, in the comics, etc.* 

Part 13: Formulating a Plan! 

"But how---" Koushirou said as he picked up his laptop. 

"Hooray, you have your laptop! That means Koushirou-han is going to come up with a plan to help us get my tree house back, and to get Iori-han back to normal!" 

"How did it come to the gate all by itself?" Sora queried. 

"Wait," Takeru intervened, "how did the gate just appear like that without somebody bringing it up and unlocking it?" 

Izzy shrugged as he opened up his laptop, booting it up. Luckily, it worked for him. The battery was fully charged, and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. 

The boy then noticed that he had an email. 

"Hey, I got an email from Gennai-san!!" 

A beam of light shined from the laptop, revealing a holographic image of an old man. 

"Hey there, Koushirou," Gennai granted. "I figured you could use this, and I also put a new program on it for you. It should show to be quite useful." 

"That's Gennai?" Daisuke asked in surprise. "He's one weird looking guy." 

"Is he a Digimon?" Miyako asked back at Daisuke. "They never said. He looks like a human…well, sort of." 

"I wonder if he _always_ looks like he's asleep," Daisuke whispered to Miyako. 

"Now, now, let's not be disrespectful. He's obviously respected by the others," Miyako whispered back. The girl then bowed to the holographic image, and said, "Hello, Gennai-san; pleased to meet you." 

"What she said," Daisuke said, bowing just as Miyako had. 

"So, this must be Daisuke and Miyako. I have heard quite a bit about you two," Gennai smiled. 

"Really?" 

"You have?" Daisuke asked after Miyako. 

"Well, no, actually, it just seemed like the appropriate thing to say." 

Both Daisuke and Miyako nearly face-faulted from the old man's response. 

"And no, I am not a Digimon, if that's what you two are wondering." 

"H-how?" both asked out in unison. 

"Gennai-san, do you understand what's going on? For once in my life I don't and it's killing me!" 

"Calm down Koushirou," Gennai said as he laughed slightly over the young boy's eagerness to learn all about their current situation. "I know how you like to try and figure things out. Let's see, you guys are right about the ring thing. Good job, Jyou." 

"Doumo, Gennai-san." Jyou thanked him. 'Wait, if he wasn't here, how did he know that it was me who came up with that theory?' 

*Note: Doumo is another way of saying thanks.* 

"Now, the source of the power, I think that…well…" 

"Sorry for interrupting, Mr. Gennai, but everyone, look at my D-3!" 

Everyone turned to see why Miyako had interrupted Gennai, and why her D-3 was beeping, as if homing onto something. 

"There's another Dark Tower nearby; exactly where Iori was attacking us!" she informed them. 

"How come our D-3s aren't reacting?" Daisuke asked, looking down at his Digivice. 

Hikari and Takeru looked down at theirs, shrugging to the goggle boy's question. 

Koushirou sat himself back onto the ground; his back leaned against the tree. Even though his back was still hurting him some, he ignored the pain, anxious to figure out where Iori currently was. He then typed in a couple of commands to bring up a map of the Digital World. 

"Taichi tried that back at school and it wouldn't even work, or pinpoint your location, or anything," Sora informed Koushirou. 

"That's strange," Tailmon said. 

"Still in the desert, I see," Koushirou murmured. 

"Out of curiosity," Miyako asked while looking around, "where are we? We just ran into this woodsy looking place." 

"Yeah, it's like we were running in the desert, trying to get away from Iori a while ago, and now we're in the forest or something," Daisuke said. 

"I don't even know where we are." 

"You weren't with us when we first came here, Hikari-chan," Takeru told her. 

"We were so busy trying to get away from Iori, and getting everyone to safety, we didn't even pay attention to our surroundings," Yamato chuckled lightly over the irony of the situation. "We look as if we are in Piccolomon's (Piximon) village. Well, close to it anyway." 

"That must be the reason why Iori-kun gave up chasing us!" Sora concluded. "He can't see us if we're here." 

Jyou thought for a moment, finding their situation a bit strange. "But how did we end up here? Piccolomon's village is a lot farther away from here. We were in the desert where we encountered Etemon the very last time." He then muttered with a sweat drop, "Well, as his normal bad singing self." 

"Who knows, we're just near his village." Takeru then shrugged, unsure of himself, and said, "Maybe there's another way to get through his barrier, and this is the long way around?" 

"Hey, maybe there are hidden places like this all over the desert and we just happened to run into one of them," Mimi said. 

"Or instead of us going in through the front door," Taichi gave a goofy grin, "we ended up going through the back door!" 

"I guess so," Jyou sweat dropped at Taichi's bad attempt at humor. 

"Besides, anything is possible in the Digital World, Jyou!" Gomamon smiled. "You said that yourself!" 

"Wow!" Takeru exclaimed, coming to a realization. "This is where my brother found his Crest of Friendship and where Koushirou-san found his Crest of Knowledge if we're near Piccolomon's village!" 

"But Koushirou and I found our crests in the well outside of the barrier. Koushirou insisted on checking it out when we did. We didn't run past a well on our way here because it was destroyed by a Tyranomon after we found them." 

"But niisan, if we're in the barrier, then we _must_ be somewhere close to it." 

"Yeah, nice…crest," Koushirou muttered as he typed, not really paying attention to the conversations that were taking place. The boy stopped typing and turned to a certain lavender-haired girl. "Miyako-kun, may I please borrow your D-3?" 

She handed him her Digivice. "Sure, but what are you---" 

"Thanks," the boy interrupted. "I'm going to analyze this one so that when I get a hold of Iori's, I can compare them." The boy then shyly asked, "Can you help me analyze them, Miyako-kun?" 

"Sure can! I'm pretty good at electronics and computers, as you know!" the girl smiled as she sat down next to her mentor. 

"Great, now I must show you this program that Gennai-san so happen to put on here for further Digivice Analyzing." Koushirou looked at the slot where he could put in a Digivice to analyze it. His eyes lit up when he saw that there were now two slots. "Wow, he's even made it so that I can use you newer Chosen Children's Digivices!" He inserted Miyako's D-3 into the slot. "It fits! Now, you can use this anytime that you want, if you ever need it that is. My laptop is the only thing we have that can analyze our Digivices and obtain information from them. Also---" 

"Now I have seen everything out of my many years!" Gennai dramatically gasped mockingly. "Koushirou is volun_ta_rily letting somebody else use his laptop!" 

"Hmph, he's never let me," Mimi muttered in slight jealousy, her arms crossed. 

"So, Gennai-san, do you have any other information for us?" 

"I sure do, Sora! Loads that will probably help you, but I have to go." 

All of the children, minus Koushirou and Miyako whom of which were trying to figure out the upgrade on Koushirou's laptop, who didn't hear, screamed out, "What!?!" in disbelief. 

"AOL is messing up again, and I _did_ upgrade Koushirou's laptop before I sent it to you. I'm sure that with all of you together, you'll be able to figure it out. 

"See you all later, and believe me, I would help more, but I can't, " his voice lowered some, and he mumbled, "if I were only connected with my other self that knows much more…if I could only find it…" 

"Huh, what did you say, Gennai-san?" Sora asked, having thought she had heard something. 

Before Sora could get a response, the holographic image of Gennai distorted, and faded out. 

"Not again!" Yamato groaned in frustration. 

"Is it just me, or does he _like_ doing that to us?!" Jyou asked. 

"I honestly think he secretly likes doing that just so we can figure out everything on our own!" Taichi sighed. 

"Great, now I have all of the information on your D-3. This new program is amazing!" 

He handed Miyako back her Digivice. 

"Thanks a lot, Miyako-kun." He then started to look around. "Gennai-san?" 

"He lost his connection with us," Sora told Koushirou. "You didn't notice?" 

He shook his head and shrugged. 

"Put him in front of that laptop and let an Earthquake or Tornado or any other natural disaster occur, he wouldn't notice it," Taichi muttered. 

Koushirou took out his Digivice and inserted it into the old analyzer slot. "It wouldn't hurt to have the old model Digivice information too." 

'He's always thinking and is so cool!' Miyako thought as she stared at Koushirou in slight admiration. 'He was once president of the Computer Club, until this year since he graduated to Odaiba Junior High. Maybe one day, I'll become just as smart as he is when it comes to computers.' 

"Oh no!" the redhead frowned. 

"What's wrong?" Miyako asked. 

"Computer froze." 

"Don't worry, we'll fix it!" 

Everyone sweat dropped, 'cept for Daisuke, Miyako, Hikari, and their Digimon who didn't think anything of Tai and Agumon's statement. 

Taichi, along with Agumon, rushed over to where Koushirou was sitting, bawled up his right, open hand into a fist, and said, "One good _whack_ ought to do it!" 

Izzy grabbed his laptop and rushed off to hide behind Sora before Taichi and Agumon could swing. Miyako, along with Daisuke and Hikari, looked at the computer boy as if he was crazy, but then realized it was probably a good idea with the way Taichi and Agumon looked with their fists raised in the air, about to swing. 

"Sora-san," Koushirou pleaded, a slight whining to his voice, "stop them! Tell them to stop trying to hurt my computer!" 

Sora sighed as she put her hands on her hips; Koushirou still crouched down a bit behind her. 

"Taichi, what did I tell you about that?" 

"I can't believe it!" Taichi argued. "You treat that thing better than you do some people!" 

"I can vouch for that," Mimi huffed under her breath. 

"Computers are not toys!" Koushirou said in defense, stepping from behind Sora, standing upright. "You do not hit them if they aren't working the way that you want them to!" He then muttered, "And you wonder why I never let you touch my laptop!" 

"You let me use your desktop at your place all of the time." 

"That's because I know you can't run off with it and hit on it just to get it working the way that you want it to!" he retorted. "Besides, I'm always at your place showing you how to use different programs on _your_ computer!" 

"You still treat that stupid thing better than you do some people!" 

"I do not!" 

"You do to!" 

"I do not!" 

"You do to, Koushirou, and you know it!" Mimi argued.   
****   
"Can we go through _one_ day with all of us together in the Digital World without _some_one arguing!" Jyou annoyingly groaned while holding his head. 

"I seriously doubt it, senpai," Sora said while shaking her head.   
****   
"I do not! How can you guys say such a thing! That laptop has loads of important and beneficial information on it! I just don't want Taichi-san or Agumon messing it up!" 

"I bet if some Digimon was to attack us and the attack was headed towards your laptop, you would jump in the way to block it off and take the hit yourself!" 

"H-how could you say that, Mimi-san?" Koushirou asked, feeling a bit hurt, and not because of his slight headache or from his constant back pains. 

"Because you probably would!" 

"We rest our case!" Taichi said while giving Mimi a high five. 

"You got that right," Mimi nodded to Taichi. "Koushirou, you never leave that thing unguarded! It stays with you always when you have it around!" 

"That's not true! I've left it behind before because of you!" 

"Hhmph." Mimi turned her back to Koushirou and stubbornly crossed her arms. "Funny how _I_ don't remember anything like that!" 

"Then your memory is somewhat faulty." 

"Mimi, he's right," Palmon quietly spoke up. 

Everyone turned to Palmon, surprised by her statement. "What?!?" 

"He's left his laptop before?" Taichi asked in disbelief. 

"That does sound…rather surprising," Sora found herself saying, even though she had planned on staying neutral for this argument. 

"Palmon, what are you talking about?" Mimi asked, giving her plant-like buddy a look of cynicism. 

"Well, after we defeated Apocalymon, and you all had to leave, he surprised me with something he said, and I fell over, and at the same time, his laptop fell, but he helped me up and didn't dive for his laptop, even though he was probably very tempted to." 

"Tentomon, that's not what I'm talking about. Anyway, I didn't know about that." 

"Oh." 

"Then what time are you talking about?" Mimi asked. 

"I do remember this one time how he left his laptop behind to help you. It was the time when you were stuck in that maze in that old ruin with Tentomon. He led you to that dead-end to break you out because he knew that you wouldn't have made it back since Kentarumon (Centauromon) was in the maze with you. 

"He left his laptop behind after he gave you those last set of directions, and rushed right out of the ruin! I could barely keep up with him as I tried my best to follow behind. 

"When he got to the spot he had led you, he picked up the thing closest to him and started to bang on the wall, which broke it down and he was able to get you out." 

'Hmm, and all this time I just thought Koushirou-han didn't want to unplug it.' 

"I didn't…know…that," Mimi uttered, feeling like a heel for arguing in the first place with her friend over something so pointless. 

"Well, it's true," Koushirou quietly replied while staring at Mimi. 

"Gee, I'm sorry for yelling at you, Koushirou. I didn't think about that. I don't know why I blew up in the first place." 

He scratched the back of his head timidly. "I guess all of this heat is getting to us."   
****   
"Seems that those two have been apologizing a lot lately," Tentomon observed. 

"They sure are arguing a lot, and Koushirou isn't the type to argue, is he?" 

"No, he isn't, Gomamon. Normally Koushirou-han is calm, unless you touch his laptop or harm it in some way."   
****   
"I still say you treat that thing like it's a human being, or better yet, a cheap date! He can take it everywhere, never have to worry about spending too much on it, and never having to hear it complain." 

Izzy gave Tai a really annoyed, yet hurt, look as if deceived by a good friend, which Sora noticed. 

"Taichi," the girl sighed, "please don't say anything else." 

"Hey, it's true! And why are you always taking his side anyway!" 

"I am not taking sides!" She then whispered, "Isn't it obvious that it bothers him that you think of him that way, Taichi?" 

"Um…" 

"Your hair is bigger and you're still no smarter. Just don't say anything else in reference to the comparison of the way he treats his computer equipment to that of other people, okay?" Sora gently requested. 

"But, I---" 

"Okay!!" Sora firmly demanded. 

"Okay," Taichi said with a nervous sweat drop from Sora's tone. 

"Good," she smiled. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't think of if that way." 

'I hate to admit it, but I think he's cute when he acts this way,' Sora thought with a smile. 

'Do I _really_ treat my computers as if they were people, my companions?' Koushirou wondered in thought. 'I mean, computers can store so much information and it can help me gain more of it. People can't do that, which is why I like them so much, but do I _really_ treat it better than I do my own friends? Could Mimi-san be right? If the scenario she came up with were to occur right at this moment, would I _really_ go out of my way to keep it from getting harmed? Am I really that insensitive towards others and my friends?' 

"Koushirou-han, Koushirou-han!" Tentomon called. 

He grew tired of trying to call the boy to get his attention, so he did the next best thing and zapped him using his Super Shocker, which caused the boy to scream from the shocking pain. 

"Earth to Koushirou-han," he called after he had zapped him, "are you there?" 

Tentomon smirked to himself after he finished, which caused the smoking redhead to yell at the bug. 

"Hey!" Koushirou shouted after finally coming back to reality. "You didn't have to zap me like that! I've been hurt enough as it is already!!" 

"I'm sorry, but you spaced out, and I was trying to get you back." 

He sighed at Tentomon and went back to his laptop. 

"Oh, never mind, it didn't freeze. I just input too much information at one time, I guess," Koushirou assumed. "It was just going a bit slowly. This laptop could use a faster modem. A DSL cable modem instead of this slow, out of date regular cable modem I have now. I'd settle for a Satellite Uplink connection, which would be even better! I'm sure I could obtain one, and it wouldn't cost me a thing." He then darkly muttered, "*I've done it before." The boy coughed a bit before anyone could question him, and saved his work. "Okay guys, I have all that I need, except for Iori's D-3 info. And as for our getting it, I think we should all split up when trying to approach him."   
****   
RP: (Coughs)Movie2.Koushirouhackedintomilitaryfilesusinggov'tsattelitesandwasn'tcaught(Coughs). :-p   
****   
"Yes, some of us create a diversion, while some of us go to destroy the Dark Tower, and then some of us, go after Iori," Gabumon said. 

"But if you destroy the tower, why would we have to go after Iori?" Daisuke asked. "The rings wouldn't work if the tower is destroyed." 

"I guess to make sure he's all right," Takeru replied. 

"We should also go and make sure we get him home safe and sound!" Miyako then pumped her fist into the air, getting a bit hyper. She was now currently in one of her, "I'm going to achieve whatever I set my mind to," moods. "Who knows, maybe he'll even be able to lead us to where the Digimon Kaizer is hiding so that I can personally wring his neck for hurting poor Iori!" 

Everyone sweat dropped from Miyako beating her fists together and kicking on a tree. 

"Calm down, Miyako-kun," Koushirou responded, a look of amusement on his face. "We will get to him eventually so that you'll have your chance." 

"Yeah, and I know exactly how we should split up!" 

The goggle boy stood up. 

"What are you doing?" 

The boy gave Hikari a thumbs-up and a wink. 

"I'm going to help split everyone up!" Daisuke then started to calculate in his head as he did a head count. "Okay, there are ten of us, so we can make…either two groups of five, or either five groups of twos, and I'm all for the five groups of twos!" 

"And I thought you said you weren't any good with math." Hikari smiled at him. "You just used some basic division and multiplication." 

"Hey yeah, you're right! I guess I'm not as dumb as I thought when it came to math after all!" the boy proudly grinned. "Okay, now let's get back to business. Let's see, Taichi-senpai and Sora should be in one group…" 

Tai didn't mind the pair up. Sora was one of his best friends, of the opposite gender that is, Koushirou and Yamato were probably his best guy friends. He cared for her a lot and would never want anything remotely bad to ever happen to her. 

Sora was okay with the pairing also...Tai was one of her good friends and she truly enjoyed being around him. 

"…Miyako and Koushirou-san in another group since they know about that Digivice stuff…" 

Koushirou smiled more than what he would normally after Daisuke had said that. The idea of him and Miyako alone pleased him some, yet he couldn't explain why. He was actually considering typing in his symptoms into a search engine to see if he was coming down with something. 

Miyako didn't mind being paired off with Koushirou, either. As a matter of fact, she idolized him immensely, especially since he had a love for computers just like herself." 

"…Yamato and Takeru since they're brothers and don't see each other much. If they're paired up, that way, they can catch up on all that good brotherly stuff that I wouldn't understand since I'm stuck with an older sister that's totally in love with Yamato, and how that's all she talks about, which makes voluntarily conversing with her out of the question since all of our conversations would end up with her talking about how cute Yamato is…" 

Yamato shrugged. It didn't matter to him either way and he really didn't talk to his brother much, even though Takeru had moved back to Odaiba. He was still pretty busy with his band and school. 

Takeru got a look of annoyance as he stared over at Daisuke, who was now considering who to pair off next. He was wondering where Daisuke was going with these pair ups and was really curious as to whom Hikari was going to end up paired up with, as if he didn't already know. 

Takeru didn't dislike his brother or anything, but he just had the feeling that Daisuke was up to something. Having someone other than Hikari as his partner felt wrong to him. Even when they were younger, they always seemed to be paired off. Even their Digimon, in their perfect (ultimate) forms were perfectly paired when it came to battling. Why it bothered him so much, he couldn't really explain it. He knew that it really shouldn't have mattered, but it still bothered him that he wasn't paired up with Hikari. 

"…senpai can go along with Mimi-san since they haven't talked in a long time, I guess…" 

Jyou smiled a bit. He hadn't been alone with Mimi in a long time, and he really liked hanging around here, though he would've never admitted to something like that three years earlier when the two were alone before. He wasn't even sure if he would admit to something like that now. 

When Yamato left to "find himself," and Mimi decided to do the same since she didn't want to witness anymore fighting and killing, Jyou had offered to stay with her. Up to this day, he still didn't know why he had offered to do such a thing. Was it to be nice, his need to prove that he was the responsible one of the group, and that someone as young as Mimi shouldn't be by herself, or was there more to it? 

Mimi didn't mind the pair up either, even though she truly wanted to stay behind with Koushirou due to his injuries, but she figured that everything must was okay since he hadn't really complained much about being in pain, until Tentomon shocked him. Jyou was one of her good friends, so of course she wouldn't mind being paired up with him. She then thought about how nice it was when they were paired up in the Digital World before when she decided to leave the group for a while and how Jyou, pretty much the adult of the group, offered to stay behind with her. She also had learned quite a bit from her time with Jyou, which benefited her in their final battles against the Dark Masters and Apocalymon. 

"…and I guess that leaves me with," he looked around, "wow, what a coincidence! Hikari-chan!!" 

Everyone sweat dropped, Digimon included after he said that he would gladly have Hikari as his partner. Everyone knew how Daisuke had a thing for Hikari.   
****   
"I bet he did that on purpose," Patamon said. 

"Oh yeah," V-mon blinked. 

"He never gives up, does he?" 

"I don't think so, Tentomon," Tailmon shook his head. 

"At least he's determined," Hawkmon sweat dropped. 

"Well, since Daisuke and Hikari are paired up, I guess that means that you and I are paired up too, Tailmon!" V-mon smiled. 

"I guess," the cat-like Digi shrugged, not caring one way or the other.   
****   
"Let's see, now to split up the Digimon…" 

The cap-wearing one of the group grew a bit angered, and stepped up to the goggle boy. 

"You set that up on purpose just so you'd get to have Hikari as your partner!" 

"Look here, TE, I would never do anything that sneaky!" Daisuke retorted, stepping up to the taller boy, poking him in his chest with his index finger. "If I wanted her as my partner, I just would've asked her instead of making it look like I set it up so that she'd end up with me! Anyway, this is important! We have to get Iori back to normal and stop the control Ichijouji has over him!" 

"First of all, it's TK, and second of all, you _would_ do something like that!" 

"Would not!" 

"Would too!" 

"Would not!" 

"Would too!" 

"Does it really matter _whom_ I go along with?" Hikari asked in slight frustration, embarrassed over the two boys. 

The two didn't hear her, nor did they pay her any mind, as they continued to argue. 

"Why do you care so much anyway?" 

"Well, I ugh, it's just that Hikari-chan and I…well," he stuttered slightly. He then defensively snapped back, "Never mind! It doesn't matter why!" 

The older of the two handsome blonde-haired brothers decided to settle this fight once and for all before Takeru embarrassed himself more than what he currently was. Takeru was starting to turn a bit red in the face from embarrassment and nervousness. 

"I think that Daisuke's idea of two groups of five is better," Yamato said, breaking the two younger boys up. "Walking around in pairs is much too risky, especially since we older kids don't have D-Terminals like you newer kids do. It would also be easier to communicate with two groups of us instead of five, don't you think?" 

"I agree," Koushirou nodded. "I think I'll stay here, though. I'm still not feeling all that up to walking around just yet." 

"We understand," Mimi smiled. "You should rest after what happened to you." 

"Maybe someone _could_ stay with me, though. Maybe Miyako-kun could stay with me until you all get back since she knows so much about computers too. You would be able to contact us through e-mail." He then turned to the glasses-wearing girl and asked, "Are you okay with that? If you wanted to go along with them, I understand comeple--" 

"Oh no, I'm fine with staying here," the girl responded, much calmer and less hyper than what she was earlier. "No problem." 

"Okay, so it's two groups of four now." 

"I'll pair it up," Jyou offered. "Sora, Yamato, Taichi, and I guess, Mimi, in one group, while the rest of us are in the other one." 

'No fair, I wanted to be alone with Hikari-chan!' Daisuke muttered in thought. 

"The group of Jyou-senpai should look for the Dark Tower that Miyako-chan saw," Mimi suggested. 

"You know, I'm starting to wonder about that." 

"What do you mean, Jyou?" Yamato asked, a look of curiosity on his face. 

"How come we're just finding it now? If it was always there, we should've seen it when we were where Iori-kun was, and it's pretty difficult to hide something as big and conspicuous as a Dark Tower in the middle of a desert." 

"It takes a while to get those towers up, too," Gomamon responded somberly, remembering the time Ken had forced him and some of the other Digimon of his snowy, icy area to put up his Dark Towers. "I would know, unfortunately." 

"It is very strenuous work," Gabumon nodded slowly. "You can't get them up in just mere seconds." 

Palmon shuddered a bit. "He also normally only use the smaller and weaker Digimon to put them up as a punishment for their defying or disobeying him." 

"Maybe he made some type of an exception and used only the bigger and stronger Digimon!" Tentmon said a bit excitedly. "I know, maybe he could've even used some ultimate (mega) leveled Digimon, or maybe even Digmon!" 

"Tentomon, you aren't helping," Agumon said, a stressed out tone in his voice from having to put up with Tentomon's statements ever since they were all captured by Wormmon. 

"Well, he could've," the Digimon mumbled as he refrained from saying much of anything else. 

"Anyway, I agree with Jyou," Agumon said, ignoring Tentomon. 

"Those pyramids are out there...maybe he's hidden it there," Taichi said. 

"Who knows, maybe you _are_ right," Jyou said, deciding that he should just get off of the subject. 

"Tentomon, I want you to go along with Taichi-san to help them out." 

"Alright, Koushirou-han! I wasn't planning on sitting out on this fight!" 

"Oh, and Miyako-kun, your D-3 again, please…" 

Miyako handed him her Digivice. 

"What are you doing now?" 

Koushirou turned his head to see a certain, platform wearing girl looking over his shoulder. 

"Well, Mimi-san, I am using the D-3 to try and find the exact location of the Dark Tower." 

The boy continued to type on his laptop, command after command, trick after trick, receiving an error message every time. The boy then heaved out a sigh and frowned. 

"For some odd reason, my computer cannot find the Dark Tower. It can't even pinpoint out a location. I am sorry, but you will just have to try and find it on your own. I can communicate to you with my computer through your Digivices. Well, I'm positive I can with Mimi-san. The tricks and commands I used with her before is still on here. As for you with the D-3s, I'm not sure if I can figure it out. I'll just stick to e-mailing the newer kids through their D-Terminals." 

Everyone nodded. "Right!" 

"Yeah, let's go!" they all heard a weak, faint voice say. 

"Piyomon, are you sure you're feeling well enough to come along with us?" Sora asked, lots of concern in her voice. "We're just going to try to find a way to get Iori-kun back to his normal self." 

"Or find a way to keep him away from his D-3 long enough so that Koushirou can look at it," Gabumon added. 

"But we _need_ someone like Piyomon because she can fly!" Agumon retorted. "She could probably get the Digivice back to Miyako and Koushirou in no time flat!" 

"Piyomon, why not stay here? Hawkmon, you go and help them out. I'm sure you're well rested enough." 

"Right, Miyako-san!" the bird nodded. "As a matter of fact, ever since we haven't been near Iori-kun, I feel wonderful!" 

"Same here. It's just when I was near him that I felt as if I couldn't evolve. I just didn't have the energy to." 

The other Digimon nodded, agreeing with both Tentomon and Hawkmon. They too felt as if they could evolve since they hadn't been around Iori, minus Piyomon who still felt unusually tired and weakened. 

"Well, it is settled then," Koushirou stood up. "We already have our plan, now all we have to do is to get Iori-kun distracted enough to snatch his Digivice. Only then we can find the true source of its reaction and power." 

Before anyone else could react, Hikari started to tremble a bit as a look of pure terror appeared on her now pale from fright face. 

"What's wrong?" Takeru asked, noticing her look. 

"Look!" the girl pointed, her arm shaky. "He's going to find us, and have Digmon attack us, and then our Digimon won't be able to evolve since they said they feel weak whenever he is around!" 

Everyone looked towards where Hikari had been pointing. They saw Iori, still riding on Digmon's back, muttering loudly, still in pursuit of the other Chosen Children. 

"My patience is growing thin!" they heard the young boy say, as loud as can be. "Where the hell are those little shi---" 

"What did he just say!" Miyako choked out. 

Everyone looked surprised; now the boy was starting to use bad language. That definitely was nothing like the true Iori that they all knew and loved. 

Hikari grabbed onto Takeru's arm in fear, since he was nearby. 

The goggle boy stared in annoyance, not liking the fact that the two were getting so close. He then ran up to the two and pretty much forced them apart by walking through the middle of them. 

"Don't worry, Hikari-chan; V-mon, Tailmon, and I will protect you!" 

"Don't bother. He can't see us. Everything will be fine." 

"What do you mean?" Daisuke asked, facing the basketball player. 

"Well, this is a hideout, pretty much," the young boy explained. "What he's seeing if he looks in our direction is desert, not jungle." 

"Say what?" Miyako, Hikari, and Daisuke asked in unison, trying to make sense of what Takeru had just told them. 

"It's like mirage." The boy then got an idea and grabbed Daisuke and Hikari's arms, and urged Miyako to come along too. "You stand right there. Watch me." 

Takeru stepped right out of the protective barrier and did something incredibly stupid; well, it was to Daisuke, Hikari, and Miyako. 

"Hey, midget boy with the Star Trek outfit that's a monk reject from the planet Vulcan with the bad bowl haircut, we're over here!" Takeru yelled out. "That ought to get him mad!"   
****   
RP: I don't hate Iori (Cody) in the least; if that's what you all are wondering. The same goes for the other characters as well. I like all of them, but my favorites are Koushirou, 02 Mimi, Iori, Jyou, Miyako, Sora, and my fav Goggle boy is Daisuke. I just have this strange habit of having my favorite characters dogged, or teased, or possessed, or whatever. It's sorta like Todd/Snap in my Pokémon fics; he's one of my fav background characters - I guess you could call him that - and yet, he was the target for both of my fics that just happened to have him in it.   
****   
Takeru ran back into the safety of the barrier, where Hikari, Miyako, and Daisuke were still standing, looks of astonishment on their faces. Digmon and Iori followed the sound of Takeru's voice, and looked around, but when he couldn't find anything, he snarled a bit and ordered Digmon to look elsewhere. 

"See," the boy smiled, as if doing some great deed. 

Miyako just stared at the boy, a bit surprised, blinking. Hikari, on the other hand, wasn't smiling after Takeru's attempt; in fact, she looked a bit irritated. 

"Don't you _ever_ do that again, Takaishi Takeru!!" Hikari yelled at him. "That was dangerous!!" 

Takeru's confident smile faded. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to show you that---" 

"She's right!" an even angrier Miyako interrupted. "That was dangerous! What if something would've happened! What if he would've found the barrier anyway and came right through it! You know our Digimon have a weird reaction whenever he's around! Takeru-kun, you shouldn't have done something so _stupid_!" 

Takeru lowered his head and stared down at the ground. "I'm sorry," he quietly muttered. 

"Yeah, he could've seen you! You could've tripped!" Hikari continued, adding on to what Miyako had said. "_Any_thing could've happened!" 

'Wow, Takeru _finally_ did something to get Hikari-chan annoyed, trying to impress her! This is _way_ too good to be true!' Daisuke thought ecstatically. He then calmed himself and crossed his arms, to give off a laid-back impression. "That wasn't the best thing in the world to do, TF…" 

"Well, at least he was just trying to show them something to prove how safe they were. Taichi, on the other hand, wasn't! He was actually playing around! Now that was stupid and immature! He could've gotten us all captured by Etemon due to his immaturity!" 

"Sora, don't remind me of that," Taichi groaned. "I don't ever want to remember that day. It was awful! Because of my goofing around, you ended up caught by Nanomon, and I ended up losing my courage and couldn't go after you. I'm sorry about that." 

"I know that now, Taichi. I'm not upset at you over that." 

"I know I would've been," Taichi muttered. 

"Not that story again!" Daisuke moaned. 

"Takeru-kun, please don't _ever_ do that again! I believed you. You didn't have to try and get his attention just to prove anything to me." 

"I'm sorry, Hikari-chan." 

The girl's harsh expression softened a bit, and she gave the boy a gentle smile and a small pat on the back. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. You are one of my good friends, and these past months that you've been around have been great. I like having you around, and I don't want to lose one of my good friends." 

"Wait, you mean you two didn't really start hanging out together until this school year started?" 

Takeru nodded to Daisuke. "I lived in Kawada, so I didn't see Hikari-chan, my brother, or father much. I only met Hikari for the first time when were in search of the eighth child three years ago. Jyou-san and I ran into Wizarmon who had the tag and crest belonging to the eighth child. He explained to us how it belonged to Hikari-chan, and how Tailmon was her Digimon partner. After getting Wizarmon back to Odaiba, that was my first time meeting her. Jyou-san seemed to know of her, though, when Wizarmon was explaining who the tag and crest was for." 

"Same school. We all went to the same school, 'cept for Takeru since he lived with mom, even though we all didn't know each other all that well before our adventure in the Digital World. Well, maybe accept for probably Taichi and Sora knowing each other, and their knowing Koushirou, who knew of Mimi. The rest of us were all strangers." 

"After our battle with Apocalymon," Hikari continued, "we all went home, of course; Takeru-kun back to Kawada with his mother, and Yamato-san back to Odaiba with his father. 

"I never really saw him much after that, unless it was during a summer vacation, or maybe some other school vacation where he would visit Yamato-san, but it wasn't often. We didn't really see each other again until we went back to the Digital World and sacrificed our crest powers to create that seal. After that, it was then the same as it was before, my not seeing him much again." 

"Oh." 

"Hey, let's go you guys!" Taichi urged. "We get Iori's attention while Jyou and the others destroy the Dark tower!" 

"Gomamon, you go along with Taichi and the others. They need as much of a distraction as they can get. At least, that way, you can help them fight, and stay far away from here so that you, Tentomon, Agumon, Palmon, and Gabumon can evolve. Also, if Iori-kun has such an effect on you all, try your best not to get too close to him." 

"Okay, Jyou!" Gomamon nodded. 

They all took off to go on their assigned tasks. Luckily, since the newer kids had Jyou with them, Koushirou could talk to him and tell them which way to go, to get to the Dark Tower... 


	14. The Mysterious Stranger!

*Hi again. Here's another part of my wonderful Digimon story...well, maybe not THAT great. (-_-). Don't forget to leave reviews and comments and let me know what you think. You can email me at either, pikato8270@aol.com or either SSJupiter@aol.com (this one preferably). Now, I do not own any of these characters and/or places you would find on the show, in the comics, etc.* 

Part 14: The Mysterious Stranger! 

"Hmm, looks like that Iori guy has them on the run, Wormmon." Ken murmured as he monitored his screens, which allowed him to see what went on in the Digital World at all times. Right now, he wasn't seeing any of the Chosen Children. 

"It sure does, sir." 

"I wonder what they're up to, and if they've fallen for that fake tower bait yet." 

"Why not check, sir?" 

"Good idea, Wormmon." 

Ken brought up another screen, which had the area where he planted a fake Dark Tower so that they would go after it. On it, he saw Jyou, Hikari, Daisuke, Takeru, and their Digimon walking around in the area. 

"Ahh," he arrogantly smirked, "looks like they are going for the bait! I see that four of them are there!" 

"But where could the others be?" 

"Hmm, good question," Ken said as he brought up another screen, which showed another sector of the desert like area. He had no luck in locating them. "I better find that Iori guy. I'm sure that'll explain some things." 

He finally came to a screen, which showed Iori still scouting around, in search of his "ex friends." 

"My guess is that the other group of Chosens are going to go after him," Ken presumed. He then gave out a light chuckle. "They can't have their precious little Iori being a meanies now, can they..."   
****   
Meanwhile, back at Piximon's barrier… 

"Good, they are there, Miyako-kunn!" Koushirou told he girl. "Taichi-san was right, according to Jyou-san. Apparently, there is a Dark Tower in one of the pyramids." 

"That's good, at least they found it." 

"Jyou-san," Koushirou spoke through the microphone of his headset, "I am sending an email now to Hikari-san. It has the directions of how to get through the pyramid." Koushirou looked at the map that he was able to bring up on his computer screen. "It seems a bit strange how my laptop can pinpoint its location, now. It is also strange how these directions that I am giving you seem somewhat familiar, as well as the unique structure of this particular pyramid. I just can't seem to bring up a full map of this place. I am still trying to figure out how." 

"Okay, Koushirou, and thanks," he heard Jyou respond. "Oh, and I have an idea as to why all of this seems familiar to you and as to why you can probably pinpoint its location now." 

"Really, how?" 

"Okay, maybe I don't know why your computer can pinpoint its location now, but I know why the directions seem familiar. This is the exact place we were before when you, Taichi, Sora, and I discovered Nanomon." 

"What!?!" 

Koushirou put his attention back onto the map on the screen, and realized that his older friend was right. 

"Wow, you're right! That is why the structure is so unique! That's definitely no normal, everyday pyramid." The boy then got a look of pure worry on his face. 

"Izumi-senpai?" Miyako called, noticing his look and sudden silence. 

"Oh no!" the boy gasped. "Jyou-san, the firewall!" 

"That's right! That's how we lost Sora! We didn't know exactly where to go!" 

"Hold on, I am checking to see if the place is even online!" 

"But Koushirou," Jyou asked, "how are you going to do that without being plugged into their network." 

"I'm sure I can pick up on the frequency, and do it that way." 

Izzy started typing on his computer and tapped into that particular area's network to see if anything was online or running. He then sighed in relief when he got the results. 

"Without me there, it would be fairly difficult for you all to figure out the firewall. According to this, the network of that particular area is down, so you should be able to get through the firewall with no trouble at all. But, to be on the safe side, toss a rock or any type of an object just to make sure it isn't up!" the boy warned, seriousness in his voice. "According to what I am getting, nothing in that area is up, nor is it running, but please be careful! I may can tap my way into its network, but I can't control it to ensure your safety." 

"Right!" 

"Now, Jyou-san, keep me posted on what happens, and good luck!" 

Izzy took off his headset and set it aside. Piyomon had fallen asleep; she was all tuckered out and was still feeling weak from when she encountered Iori and Digmon earlier. 

Miyako stared up at the sky, taking in the nice, gentle breeze, which was blowing through her long, lavender hair. She then gave a small frown. 

"This place is so pretty. Why would Ken want to destroy a place like this? It doesn't make sense to me. He's just too cute and smart to be doing something like this." 

Ignoring Miyako's statement about Ken's being cute and smart, Koushirou spoke up. 

"Well, who knows. He has to have his reasons. I also don't think his intent is to destroy this world, but to more so take it over; to feel as if he's in control of something. His always trying to control Digimon shows that," Koushirou wisely stated. 'Why does she keep talking about that Ichijouji guy so much anyway? Come to think of it, why would I personally care?' 

"I just wish he was good and would join us instead of fighting against us. We were all Chosen to help protect the Digital World, not destroy it," the girl sighed. 'At least I would get to know him better and what he's really like, other than his being smart and cute. I have this strong feeling that he isn't as bad as he seems, even though he's done a lot of bad things ever since our first meeting with him. Strange, when I see him, I see a kind person, but when I see him as the Kaiser, I see someone who is lost and confused. I am sure there is a lot more to him and that he's really a nice guy.' 

Izzy got a nervous look and spoke up. A look that was quite similar to the one he had when Daisuke had gone to the Digital World for the very first time, and the others had gone along with him, and he was the only one left in the classroom when both Miyako and Iori returned, wondering what was going on and where everyone had gone. 

"Well, I'm not all that bad and-and I'm here." 

"Yeah, that's true. You are one of the nicest boys I've ever met, and you're really helpful when it comes to figuring out stuff here in the Digital World, and you were a great Computer Club President before you graduated too!" 

"Yeah, thanks." 

Miyako, at that moment, started to debate with herself. She had a question for him; a question that only a boy could answer, and as of that moment, Koushirou was the only guy around. 

She also knew that Koushirou was the honest type, and he was a pretty good friend. She also really trusted him, even if she did refer to him as "senpai" constantly. Koushirou had attained that title due to his being Computer Club President at Odaiba Elementary, and it just stuck for her, especially since she truly admired him. 

Koushirou, for her, was probably her best friend out of the elder members of the Chosen Children group, although, Koushirou was just a year older than her. They were only a year apart, and she would be graduating to Odaiba Junior High that next year as a first year, he, a second here. 

Miyako considered Mimi to be her second best friend out of the older Chosen Children, even though Mimi was just a year older than her as well. Miyako felt that she could relate to Mimi more so than her predecessor, Sora. She liked Sora, but the two would never really talk much. She spent a lot of time talking with Koushirou; and ever since her first meeting with Mimi, she always spoke with her through emails, even though, at times, she does grow slightly jealous of her whenever she may tell her things, like the boys at her school and how nice they are towards her. She still found it a bit strange, though, how she never once mentioned Michael to her. 

"Nee, Izumi-senpai, I have a question for you…" 

"Go ahead, shoot," he said, fiddling with his headset. 'I wonder what's wrong with her. She looks as if something may be bothering her; as a matter of fact, it has been that way ever since Mimi-san has been here.' 

"Well, I was just wondering if, no never mind," she chickened out. She then gave out a bashful laugh. "It's a stupid question, really." 

"There is no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid people, and I know that is something you are definitely not." 

"Where'd did you come up with that reasoning?" Miyako laughed. 

"I have an American pen pal, and his name is Wallace."   
****   
RP: I know. They have no connection with Wallace what so ever show-wise. He's only in the third movie. For the dub version of the show, Izzy said that he had an American pen pal named "Willis," bka Wallace for the original version. But of course we know it is truly a dubbing addition to keep intact with the dubbed movie, which, originally, has no true connection with the series at all, and is out of continuity.   
****   
"He told me about this show with a bunch of dirty, foul-mouthed children and how their teacher always tell them negative things such as that." 

"What's this show called?" 

"Hmm, what was it again? It is such a simple title, and the English is fairly easy. Minami Kooen…" 

"South Park?" Miyako asked.   
****   
RP: Attempted Japanese by moi once again. Minami means "South" and Kooen means "Park"   
****   
"Yeah, that's it! I'm surprised I forgot something so simple. But never mind that, what is it that you wanted to ask me?" 

"Oh, nothing much," the girl said while staring down at the ground. "Just something about Ken again." 

Koushirou gave out a disappointed, "Oh." He was hoping that it would be something else not having to do with Ken. "Well, if anything is ever bothering you, I would really like for you to tell me about it. It is my responsibility as a fellow Chosen, and friend, to. You can ask me anything." 

"Are you sure?" the girl asked, looking right at him. 

"Oh, absolutely! You may not know this, but I consider you to be one of my very best friends." 

"Wow, I didn't know that!" the girl's eyes lit up. 

"Yep, you sure are," he nodded. "I can have a conversation with you about computers, and you would actually understand what I'm talking about," he said with a small laugh. 'I am sure that will life her spirits. She is a very good friend, so I am not lying." 

She laughed a bit and then got her nerve to ask again. 

"Okay, I will ask." She took in a deep breath, silently urging herself to continue. "Well, from your point of view, do you think I'm, in any way, pretty?" 

"Huh?!" 

Izzy was taken in surprise from that question. He wasn't expecting it. He was also pretty bad at expressing emotion and giving compliments. It was just something he wasn't used of doing. 

"Um, um, why do you ask?" 

"I was just wondering if Ken would see me as pretty…" she responded slowly. 

"Oh, well you are," he said quickly. 

"At least _some_body thinks so," the girl sighed, her attention back on the ground again. 

Izzy felt himself growing hot from nervousness as he started to loosen the necktie of his school uniform. He just couldn't explain it. He thought that Miyako was pretty, well, he guessed so anyway, but every time she mentioned Ken, or anything remotely having to do with him, it annoyed him somewhat. 

He still didn't understand why he felt that way around her or why he got annoyed when she talked about Ken like he was the most wonderful person in the world. If anyone else talked about Ken, it wouldn't have bothered him one bit, but it was different with Miyako... 

'C'mon, Koushirou, compliment her or something! It is quite obvious that she likes to be complimented, and what kind of a friend would I be if I didn't! Arrg, I don't know what I'm doing! This is all new to me! I don't know how to compliment anyone without it sounding like some type of an insult even though I don't mean it to be!' He then gave out a small cough, and started to speak in a slightly, shaky voice. "Well, um, you have nice, pretty hair. It is a really nice, lavender color." 

"You really think so!" the girl asked, her hands clasped together, her eyes twinkling. 

"Um-um…yeah, ugh, sure thing!" He gave out a goofy grin. 

"Oh thank you, Izumi-senpai!" the girl happily responded, caring less if Koushirou sounded nervous. She didn't even really notice it. "Hardly anyone ever compliments me!" She then gave him a quick hug. "Thank you for your honesty!" 

The boy felt a bit uneasy as he felt his face going red. "Um-um I-I wonder how the others are, um, doing." 

"I'm sure they're doing fine. Would you mind showing me the other programs on your computer? I'm curious what else you have that can help us with Digimon, and the Digital World in general. I'm sure it'll come in handy for later on." 

"Um, yeah! Sure thing!" he said, regaining his composure. "And like I said earlier, you can borrow my laptop anytime you want if you need it for anything. Other than stuff dealing with the Digital World, I don't have much of a reason to use it. You already know how it works, pretty much." 

Izzy got out of his nervous state and went back to what he knew best, computers and showed Miyako everything on his laptop, minus files he wouldn't show to his closest, most personal friend, like Tentomon, since they contained his innermost thoughts…   
****   
We now join Jyou and his group… 

"This is the first time I've ever been in an upside-down pyramid," Daisuke muttered as they continued to walk. 

"We're almost there, according to Koushirou's directions," Jyou responded while following the directions on Hikari's D-Terminal. 

"Thank goodness," Patamon said, the flapping of his wings being the only thing heard in the large, empty pyramid. 

"I sure hope so! I don't really like it here," Daisuke said, an apprehensive look on his face. 

"Don't tell me you're scared, Daisuke-kun," Hikari teased with a smile. 

"_Me_, scared!? Of course not!" The boy started to flex his muscles with his left arm, while holding V-mon in his right. "I'm just afraid that V-mon might get scared." 

"Who's scared?" the blue reptile replied. "_You're_ the one holding on to me like I'm a stuffed animal, like a kid who's scared of the dark!" 

"Ugh…ehehehe…" 

"Jyou-san," Takeru called, ignoring Daisuke and his apparent fear of the dark, "don't you think we've been walking a long time? When you came here before, I don't remember you being gone this long." 

"Yeah, I don't remember walking this far the last time either when I was here. I guess it's been a while, or maybe Koushirou took us the long way around." 

The group continued to walk, until they came to a strange, chain-fence like wall, yet you couldn't see through it. 

"Hey, what's with that weird looking wall there?" Patamon flew closer to the wall, inspecting it, but not once touching it. He then flew back and sat on Takeru's head. "How do we get through it?" 

"Maybe V-mon could knock it down!" 

"Sure thing, Daisuke! V-mon Head! (Veeheadbutt)" 

"Wait!" Jyou called, stepping in the way of the Digimon before V-mon could ram the wall down. 

"Hey!" the Digimon protested. 

"I wouldn't want you to get a headache when you can avoid it, V-mon. There's an easier way to get through it." 

"There is?" both Daisuke and V-mon asked in unison. 

He nodded. "You can just walk right through it, but the last time it was online, meaning that if you didn't walk in the right spot, you could get either electrocuted or killed. It's a firewall." 

The three younger kids gulped. 

"This is the exact spot where we all got separated from Sora, and Taichi broke down." 

"Would you mind explaining that?" 

"Sure, Daisuke-kun. Now, as we told you earlier, Nanomon kidnapped Sora and went through this wall. Taichi, like Koushirou mentioned, took his theory a bit too lightly, and was going to go right through it, not thinking of the consequences. I had to literally hold him back so he wouldn't hurt himself while Koushirou explained his theory a bit more thoroughly to him. 

"After Koushirou did that, and finally found the correct spot for us to pass through, Taichi cracked, and hesitated, unable to make himself go through. Even though we discovered the right spot, we couldn't go due to our being discovered there. Thanks to Yamato and Mimi-kun with Garurumon and Togemon, Koushirou, Taichi, and I got away. 

"The Digimon we were encountering at that time was Etemon, and he was the one who was after us. We didn't have much of a choice but to leave. Taichi didn't want to leave Sora behind, but we had to get him out of there before Etemon caught him. 

"After we finally left, and got back to safety at the Sphinx, we explained about Sora's kidnapping to the others. We kept telling Taichi that it wasn't his fault. Koushirou and I were there too." 

"Oh, and that's when Taichi-san was crying like a baby!! I'm glad I never cried like a baby." 

Both Jyou and Patamon gave him a look, meaning, "Are you kidding?" 

"Okay, so I cried a lot when I was a kid, but I don't do it now! At least Taichi-san got his courage back. He was about to go back by himself." 

"If this firewall is as dangerous as you say it is, how will we test it to make sure it's safe?" Hikari asked. 

Jyou dug through his pocket and pulled out a pen. 

"It's something," he said plainly. 

Jyou tossed the pen towards the wall, waiting to see if anything would happen. The only thing they heard was the sound of the pen bouncing off the wall, and onto the floor. 

"Good, now we don't have to rely on Koushirou to get us past this part," Jyou said in relief. 

"I'll send a message to oniichan and the others!" 

Jyou handed the girl her D-Terminal, and she quickly sent her message. 

"Okay, I'm ready," Hikari said after she had finished. 

"Okay, now everyone feel the wall, until you find an opening," Jyou instructed. 

Everyone nodded and did just that, Takeru finding the opening and all of them rushing through the firewall…   
****   
In another part of the desert area, Sora and the others were hiding behind a pyramid and peering around the corner, in search of Iori. 

"Hey guys, I see Iori-kun!" she announced. 

"Me too! Now, let's go get him, fellow Digimon!" 

"Tentomon, will you calm down!" Gabumon shouted. 

"I'm sorry." He then whined, "I'm still upset over my trauma." 

"Somebody going near your tree house is a trauma?" Palmon asked in disbelief. 

"I just don't get it," Gomamon shook his head. 

"I too am quite puzzled over this," Hawkmon said. 

"Hey, I just got an email from Hikari!" 

Yamato had Takeru's D-Terminal with him. Since none of the older Chosens had them, Takeru lent him his. 

"What does it say?" Mimi asked. 

"They found the area where the Dark Tower is supposed to be, and they're all about to look for it." Yamato continued to read the email, skimming through it, pretty much. "Whoa, you'll never guess where it is!" 

Sora, Mimi, and Taichi shrugged. 

"That pyramid where Etemon was and where Sora was kidnapped by Nanomon!" 

Tai came to a realization and got a worried - well, panicked is more like it - look on his face. 

"The firewall! They'll get killed without Koushirou! Hikari is in danger!!" 

"What?" Yamato, Mimi, and the other Digimon, minus Agumon, asked. 

"That firewall! If they touch it, they'll get killed! I was about to make the same mistake when I went after Nanomon after he had captured Sora! I lost my courage that day! I couldn't go through! I was scared…" 

Mimi put her right hand on her hip, and gave Taichi a look of amazement. "Man, I can't believe you're still beating yourself up over that! You made up for it when you and Koushirou went back to free her." 

"Yeah, Taichi. I'm fine now, and you didn't know what you were doing…as always…" 

"Hey!" 

"Well, when you were _younger_ you didn't know what you were doing," Sora corrected. "You figured that we had to be careful as if we were back in our world. It took you a while to figure that out, but you did, eventually, so stop beating yourself up over it, like Mimi-chan said." 

"I know one thing," Yamato started, "I wasn't giving you an easy time. I kept arguing, asking why he didn't go after you. I'm sorry about that, Taichi. I don't think I ever apologized for it. He was truly upset after your capture, Sora." 

"Yeah, I know! He made me sad and I started to feel very sorry for him. _Especially_ after he started cr---" 

Taichi ran over to Mimi and covered her mouth before she could finish. 

"Taichi, what are you doing!" Mimi's muffled voice demanded, due to her mouth being covered by Taichi's hand currently. 

"I'd rather not bring that up, if you don't mind," Taichi whispered to the shorter girl. 

"Why'd you do that? She was just going to say that you were cr---" 

Taichi bolted away from Mimi and pushed Yamato down roughly. 

"Taichi!" Sora called to her friend. 

"You creep, what did you do that for!" Yamato asked angrily, ready to knock Taichi senseless. 

"Is it _so_ hard _not_ to bring up the past! I don't want to remember, okay!" Taichi then whispered quickly, while bending down to Yamato, "Sora doesn't know…it's embarrassing!" 

"I don't get you," Yamato shook his head, knowing perfectly well that Sora had probably seen Taichi cry before. 

"What is going on!" Sora asked no one in particular as she helped up Yamato. 

"Oh, when he got back to the campsite, he broke down and---" 

Taichi gave Agumon a very disapproving, and annoyed look, which caused the fire reptile to stop talking and cower down some. 

"Everyone just shut up about the past and about stupid Nanomon, and Sora getting kidnapped!! I'm sorry, okay! We are here to get that Digivice from Iori, not talk about the past!" 

"Man, talk about edgy," Mimi muttered while straightening up her skirt some. She noticed a couple of wrinkles on it. 

"Might I suggest we all just get along, now?" 

"We would, Hawkmon, if Taichi wasn't being so _mean_ to us!" Mimi retorted, giving the older boy a look of displeasure. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Taichi said, finally calming down some. 

"What is _with_ you?" 

"Nothing; nothing at all Sora." The boy turned from the others and looked over at their target. "Well, let's go get Iori." Taichi and Mimi were about to rush off, until they were both stopped. 

"Wait!" Sora and Yamato said in unison. 

"What?" Taichi and Mimi asked. 

"You can't run in without a plan," Yamato scolded. 

"I was about to say the same thing." 

"Why should we _all_ get caught!" Yamato said. 

'Sora never agrees with anything _I_ suggest,' Taichi thought sourly. 

"We Digimon will distract Iori, while Hawkmon gets his Digivice," Gabumon said. 

"Maybe Palmon should help him. Those vines just may come in handy." 

"Like for tying him up, right Mimi-han!!" Tentomon asked anxiously. 

"Erm, that wasn't what I really had in mind," Mimi sweat dropped. "But still, Palmon could help." 

"Okay, Mimi!" Palmon nodded. 

"The rest of us can keep Digmon back," Gomamon said. 

"I'm surprised Digmon hasn't run out of energy yet," Gabumon said. 

"Hmm, that is odd," Yamato said, agreeing with his partner. "It's odd since his evolution was a forced one, figuratively speaking. It seems that forced evolutions on a Digimon would make them lose their energy faster since they didn't want to evolve in the first place. But who really knows since this is just my opinion. Maybe Armor Digimon are different." 

"We need a guinea pig to get Iori's attention," Taichi muttered as he studied Iori. 

Everyone turned towards a certain, eccentric flying bug Digimon who sweat dropped in slight fear. 

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" 

"Well, _you're_ the one worried about your tree house," Palmon said. 

"Yeah, you have more of a reason than we do." Gomamon tried his best not to laugh, which was definitely failing him since he let out a couple of snorts. "You're just trying to avenge your tree house." 

"Okay, I'll do it!" The Digimon then spoke in a heroic manner. "For my tree house!" 

"We just _knew_ you would," Agumon snickered. 

With that said and done, Tentomon flew off and landed out in the open. 

"Hey, Iori-han! I'm over here!" 

The poison minded boy looked over in the direction where he heard the voice call out his name. 

"What a foolish Digimon," Iori said in a cold, distant voice, his harsh eyes narrowed, "trying to come after me by himself." 

"Just hand over the D-3, Iori-han, and everything will be okay. We will even get you the help that you need to get you mentally stable again. I even know of a good Digimon Psychiatrist that can help." 

Tentomon started to look as if searching for a business card. 

"If you hold on for a moment, I can get her card for you. Now where did I put that thing..." He continued to look, but didn't find one. "Well, I can't find it, I'll just tell you about her instead. Now, the name of the place is the Junshin no Shinryoushyo. The Digimon that runs it is named Kabukimon, and she has special methods of getting one stable again, along with her assistants, Rosemon and Yashamon. 

"They'll get you back to normal in no time flat! The catch is that they only take American Money from your world." Tentomon then muttered, "I knew I should have gone into business with Digitamamon and Veggiemon so that I could afford to go back to Kabukimon for therapy…"   
****   
RP: Junshin no Shinryoushyo is my probably wrong way of saying "Medical Clinic of Purity." Wrong in the sense if I actually phrased that right. Anyway, Junshin means purity, and is also what Mimi's original crest trait is. It's not sincerity. For the original, Jyou's crest is sincerity. And for the record, Kabukimon is Tailmon's evo with the Digimental of Purity, and Yashamon is V-mon's armor with the Digimental of Purity. Rosemon is Palmon's ultimate (mega).   
****   
"What in the world is Tentomon talking about?" Mimi asked. 

"A shrink?" Sora blinked dumbfounded. "Digimon have psychiatrists?" 

"You know, a shrink for Iori right now wouldn't be a bad thing," Taichi muttered. 

"How does Tentomon know so much about psychiatrists anyway?" Yamato asked. 

"My guess is that he goes to one," Palmon replied bluntly. 

"Hmm, if he is seeing Kabukimon for her Digi-therapy sessions, then that must mean that Tentomon isn't really mentally stable, because Kabukimon only deals with sick patients, and I _do_ mean sick, as in very unstable Digimon," Gabumon said. "Tentomon is nowhere near that. Sure he's a bit strange at times, but not mentally unstable." 

"Yeah, I bet he's only going because of Rosemon!" Agumon exclaimed. "She's one of the hottest Digimon there are!" 

Palmon stared at Agumon in slight annoyance, her eyes literally closed. 

"Yeah, she's really cute!" Gomamon said. 

"But how can he endure all of that abuse from Kabukimon and Yashamon?" Gabumon asked. "Kabukimon is worse enough, but Yashamon," he shuddered, "I have heard lots of rumors about him. They're very harsh with their methods since they are both skilled Martial Artists." 

"I too have hard of these things," Hawkmon stated. "Very strange." 

"Who cares about those two," Gomamon retorted. "Rosemon can take care of me any day with that whip of hers!!" 

All of the humans, Gabumon, Hawkmon, Palmon, and _this_ narrator sweat dropped. 

"They _can't_ be serious," Taichi stared at Gomamon and Agumon, his left eye twitching.   
****   
Iori started laughing at Tentomon's inane request. 

"Finders Keepers! It is mine! And what makes you think that I am not mentally stable!" He scoffed. "I do not need some Digimon Doctor to throw away all of my money on!" He then gave off another laugh. "C'mon, Digmon!" 

Digmon nodded, and started to drill the ground. Tentomon flew up to avoid falling into the deep chasm in the now open ground. After seeing Tentomon fly up, Digmon attacked using his Gold Rush. 

"Hey, I was only kidding!" Tentomon yelled out, avoiding the many drills that were being shot out at him.   
****   
"Okay, that's your cue, guys!" Sora instructed. 

Gabumon and Hawkmon nodded, ready to go, but Agumon and Gomamon were still in a dream world, daydreaming about Rosemon. 

"Um, guys?" Sora called. 

"Agumon, Gomamon," Gabumon called, waving his paw in front of their faces. 

Still no response. 

"Um, hello?" Sora tried again, to still get no response from the two Digimon. 

"Sora, let me handle this," Mimi said, pulling the girl aside. Mimi walked over to the two, currently mindless Digimon, and took in a deep breath. She then shouted at the top of her lungs, "STOP STANDING THERE AND GO AND HELP TENTOMON NOW!!! HE NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!" 

The two Digimon nodded nervously as their train of thought was disrupted and evolved to their adult (champion) forms. 

"Wow, Mimi-chan! That was good," Sora complimented at how fast Agumon and Gomamon broke out of their trances. 

"It works every time," the girl smiled. 

"Agumon shinka...Greymon!" 

"Gabumon shinka...Garurumon!" 

"Gomamon shinka....Ikkakumon!" 

"Go you guys!" Mimi instructed. "Palmon and Hawkmon will try and get the Digivice along with Tentomon, I guess." 

They all nodded and ran out onto the battlefield. Tentomon flew back to where Palmon and the others were. 

"Great, more targets to practice on!" Digmon darkly murmured. "Gold Rush!" 

"Harpoon Vulcan!" Ikkakumon called as he shout out his many torpedoes from the horn on his head, which blocked off the majority of Digmon's drills. 

"Good job, Ikkakumon!" 

"We can't celebrate yet, Greymon," Ikkakumon said, keeping his eye on Digmon. "We have to keep Digmon and Iori distracted long enough for Palmon, Hawkmon, and Tentomon to get the D-3!" 

Greymon and Garurumon nodded as they continued to fight against Digmon, whose energy level seemed to be higher than ever. 

He just didn't seem to get tired, and even though he was Armor Digimon, he still seemed to have the power of a perfect (ultimate) leveled Digimon.   
****   
Meanwhile, back at the other pyramid... 

"Ehh, where's the Dark Tower!" Daisuke yelled out in exasperation. 

"There-there isn't one!" Takeru uttered in disbelief. 

"What's going on!" Jyou called out. 

The group had finally gone through the firewall, and was on the other side. There was a long stairwell, which led them to another firewall, and they all went through it, but all they found was an empty room, computer equipment, and shut off monitors. 

"Maybe the directions are faulty," Hikari said, trying to remain calm. "Maybe we misread those directions Koushirou-san gave us." 

"No, I am positive that I read them right," Jyou said, incredibly sure of himself. "Besides, this is as far as you can go anyway. This is the secret room at the center of the pyramid. I wasn't around when they came to this room, but it doesn't look like the room Nanomon was in when I met him." 

Right at that moment, Tailmon's ears perked up. "I heard something!" 

Everyone quieted down, to try and hear what Tailmon currently was. 

"I don't hear anything," V-mon said as he strained his ears. 

"I'm the one with the good ears," Tailmon stated plainly, keeping her attention on where she thought she heard the sound coming from. "I thought I heard someone laugh. A faint laugh." 

"Wait, I think I hear something too!" Patamon said. 

"I didn't know that pigs had a good sense of hearing," Daisuke joked. 

"FOR THE LAST FRICKIN' TIME, I AM NOT A PIG! I CAN'T EVOLVE INTO HOGMON OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT RESEMBLES A PIG AND NEVER WILL!!!" Patamon shouted, flying up into Daisuke's face. 

"Whoa, whoa, I was just kidding!" Daisuke sweat dropped in nervousness. 

"I never warned you all never to call him a pig or anything resembling one?" Takeru asked with a laugh. 

"NO!" Daisuke shouted. 

"I made that mistake when I first met him. He had never evolved past his child (rookie) level, and I just assumed that he was going to evolve to Hogmon, something I made up. I didn't know he was so sensitive to being called a pig. I also didn't know he still took offense to it, but other than me, I don't think anyone really has called him a pig." 

"A warning would've been nice, you know," Daisuke muttered. 

"Quiet, you guys!" Hikari sshed.   
****   
RP: The two boys and the flying pig like Digimon calmed down and... 

Patamon: (Gives the narrator an annoyed look) I SAID I AM NOT A PIG!! 

RP: Well, I could've called you something worse. 

Patamon: Like what? 

RP: (Snickering) Like a Pikachu with bat wings for ears... 

Patamon: I AM NOT A POKEMON, I'M A DIGIMON AND I AM NOT A PIG!! I AM A PATAMON!! 

RP: Sorry, sorry...sheesh...what a temper...(to herself)...I better be careful, don't want him to lose his energy on purpose and attack me as Tokomon...those teeth of his are fatal!   
****   
"Surprised to find no Dark Tower?" they heard a voice laugh. 

Tailmon, Patamon, and V-mon stepped in front of their partners and Jyou. 

"Who are you and what's so funny!" Patamon asked cautiously. 

"It is so nice to see other people," the voice said, slight joy in his voice. "It has been a long time since I have associated with anyone else." 

"C'mon out here and fight!" V-mon said, his fists up. 

"I would, but I can't." 

"I'm in no mood for riddles!" Tailmon said, annoyance in her voice. 

"I wish you all wouldn't have come here." 

Hikari and the others kept looking around, trying to figure out who was speaking and where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be all around them. 

"How come you wish we wouldn't have come here?" Daisuke asked. 

"Because you wasted your time," the voice told them regrettably. "It was nothing but a set up. There is no Dark Tower here. The Digimon Kaiser is just toying with you. He knows that you want to get your friend, Iori, back to normal, and your friend, Jyou, was right. He _is_ using two Dark Rings on your friend. They are on his wrists." 

"Who are you?" Takeru asked. 

"Forget about _who_ he is," Daisuke said, not really caring. "What is he? Are you a Digimon or what? Are you a friend or a foe? Come to think of it, how did you know that senpai was the one who came up with the Dark Ring theory and his name?" 

"That's not important, and I mean you no harm, by the way. You Digimon can put down your fists." 

All of the Digimon obeyed, hesitantly, except for Tailmon, who remained alert. 

"If he is using Dark Rings on Iori-kun, how come we can't see them?" Hikari asked. 

"They are transparent," the voice said. 

"Transparent?" 

"That means that you can see right through them, Daisuke-kun," Jyou explained. 

"Then how do we help him get them off?" Hikari asked. 

"You can't get them off. You have to get his Digivice to the knowledgeable, redheaded one and a girl who doubts her own beauty will get the Digimon Kaiser back to his normal self." 

"Say what?" Daisuke asked; a bit puzzled. 

"How do you know this?" Takeru asked, still looking around, trying to find the owner of the voice. "Would you mind explaining yourself?" 

"My spirit has been trapped here for almost three years. It was that battle with Apocalymon that made me this way." 

"Apocalymon?!" 

"Yes. After the eight Chosen Children from three years ago defeated him, all was back to normal and they went home. They then came back and sacrificed their crest powers to help protect the Digital World, creating sort of a barrier. 

"They then went home, and everything, once again, was back to normal, for a while anyway." 

"What do you mean, 'for a while,'" Jyou asked. 

"There was still negative energy lurking about the Digital World, if left, unattended, could cause a great imbalance within this world, causing parts of the Digital World to slowly delete itself until there's nothing left." 

"But where did this negative energy come from?" V-mon asked. 

"The negative energy that I tracked down, led me to this very spot. I'm sure you all are wondering how this place is here if you saw it destroyed by Etemon." 

Takeru and Jyou nodded slowly. 

"Well, after you all defeated Apocalymon, everything was reformatted, and everything went back to the way it was before it was ever threatened. Now, as for the negative energy I found, there was still a part of Apocalymon that wasn't defeated entirely. 

"I tried to get rid of this evil energy myself, but in order to do so, I had to sacrifice myself to destroy him for good! It was sent through a strange warp, sort of like how you all defeated Etemon. In the process, I had to remain here for all eternity until I am relocated with my physical body, which isn't here in the Digital World, but in some place that I am not sure of." 

"But we defeated him!" Jyou said, finding all that was being told to them a bit surprising. "How cold there be negative energy left if we all destroyed him! Yamato with MetalGarurumon and Taichi with WarGreymon got the last hits on him, and then we caught him in his own trap when he tried to use his Grand Death Big Bang attack to delete the entire Digital World!" 

"It wasn't enough, I am afraid," the voice somberly responded. "After you all left the Digital World, all was peaceful, until I sensed something was wrong. That negative energy, if left alone, could've destroyed the Digital World as we all knew it, which I mentioned earlier. 

"Apocalymon was reformatting himself to seek out his revenge, and he knew that you Chosen Children wouldn't be able to do anything since you had no way back." 

"Well, erm, Koe-san," Hikari started, feeling a bit foolish and disrespectful for addressing him in such a manner, "do you have any other information?"   
****   
RP: Koe means voice.   
****   
"Two angels will help to defeat the Digimon Kaiser." 

Jyou looked over at Takeru and Hikari, and asked, "You don't mean those two, do you?" 

"Yes," the voice confirmed. "Their Digimon are the main key of getting Iori back to normal entirely, to be completely honest with you, along with the girl that cares about him most. 

"The girl who doubts her own beauty is the key to getting the Digimon Kaiser back to normal, and the angels are the key of getting Iori to see that he is loved and respected by his friends. Together, they will help Iori to realize this and with their powers used together will heal him. 

"Even after the pretty lavender-haired girl who doubts her own beauty gets the Digimon Kaiser to go back to his once kind self, Iori will still be under his control." 

"But couldn't Ichijouji just order him to stop?" 

"I am afraid not, Daisuke. The damage has already been done. Since the Dark Rings weren't meant for that of a human, it is having a different effect. Normally when rings or spirals are removed, the Digimon goes back to their normal selves, but these rings are terribly powerful. 

"These rings are so powerful that it could control one of the Holy Beast Guardians if used on them. Another reason is because they are still in their experimental stage, meaning that the Digimon Kaiser himself doesn't even understand how they work entirely." 

"You mean even after we get rid of whatever it is that's making the Dark Rings work, Iori still won't go back to normal?" 

"Exactly, Patamon," the voice verified. 

"I'm confused," Daisuke scratched his head after all had been explained. "How can you not be connected with yourself? I understand the other stuff." 

'Not another angel prophecy,' Tailmon groaned in thought, looking down at the ground, disgusted with her lack of abilities. 'How can that be? I can't even evolve to my perfect (ultimate) form anymore since Hikari no longer possesses her natural crest power; it's just too difficult a process to do now. That one time I evolved, when I saved Hikari from that pit, was just a coincidence. I still don't understand how that happened and even as I am now, I am still pretty much worthless! I am on the same level as a child (rookie) now without my Holy Ring!' 

"I can't really explain my body connection Daisuke, and Tailmon, you look doubtful of all that I have said. I know what you are wondering. The insecurities that you have of yourself, is your main weakness. You can evolve further if you just believe in yourself, and the time will come where you will have to put aside those negative feelings. But I know that you will." 

"Wha...but how did you know that I was thi---" 

"Now, I will use some of my power to get you all back to the surface," the voice interrupted. "Please stop the Digimon Kaiser and get Iori back to normal, or the Digital World will end up worse off than what it is now." 

"No, wait!" Daisuke called, running forward. "At least tell us your name!" 

Before Daisuke and the others knew it, a big white light surrounded them. Before the light had illuminated the room, Daisuke thought he saw the outline of something, but he wasn't sure due to the bright light he was seeing, which was causing him to shield his eyes. 

After the light cleared, everyone opened their eyes to find themselves right outside of the hidden door of the pyramid. 

"What happened?" Daisuke asked in confusion, checking to see if the others were okay. 

"That was the _strangest_ encounter I've _ever_ had," Hikari said, unable to say much else.   
****   
Back to Taichi and the others... 

"Hey guys, we have another email!" Yamato announced, hearing Takeru's D-Terminal beep. 

"What does it say?" Mimi asked. 

"Who knows," Yamato said as he started to read over the e-mail. His jaw then dropped. 

"Spill it!" Taichi told the musician. "Stop leaving us in suspense! Is something wrong with my sister!!" 

"No, nothing like that, they're fine since Hikari's the one who sent the email. We-we can't get Iori back to normal by ourselves!" 

"What!?!" 

"'Our Digimon battling is pointless! Just go after the Digivice and get it back to Koushirou-san and Miyako-san as soon as possible!' According to what Hikari wrote there _was_ no Dark Tower _to_ destroy! 'Meet back at our secret hideout and we'll discuss it there,'" Yamato finished up. 

"What else does it say?" Taichi asked. 

"It also says that they encountered a strange individual when looking for the tower, but he never revealed himself to them." 

"It's still too risky to let Hawkmon and Palmon go out there right now to get Iori's Digivice." 

"But our Digimon are getting creamed, Sora!" Taichi pointed. "They are getting tired from battling!" 

"Digmon hasn't gotten tired yet?!" Yamato asked in surprise. "He should've devolved by now!" 

Tentomon, tired of the situation, turned to the remaining Digimon. "Hawkmon, Palmon, we're going to get that Digivice back now! It's important that we do!" 

The two nodded, willing to take that risk. 

"I'll sneak up behind Iori-han and grab the D-3. I don't think he'll notice me, though, since he is so focused on Digmon and the others. After I get it, I'll toss it to Palmon." 

"And I'll get back here as fast as my roots can carry me and I can get it to Hawkmon!" 

"And I'll fly back to Miyako-san and give the D-3 to her and Koushirou-san." 

"Good plan," Taichi nodded in approval. 

"Good luck, Tentomon," Mimi smiled at the brave Digimon. "It is going to be difficult, seeing as how he seems to always keep his Digivice in his pocket." 

"Why me," Tentomon muttered with a sweat drop. 

He walked out and tiptoed behind Iori who kept yelling orders to Digmon. Just as Tentomon had observed, Iori wasn't paying any attention to anything except for the battle between Digmon, Garurumon, Greymon, and Ikkakumon. 

Even though Digmon was fighting against three Digimon, he was very agile and evaded all attacks thrown at him by them. At some points, it looked as if he would stand there and take the hits. 

Digmon had done a lot of damage to the three, adult leveled Digimon. At one point, he had even managed to pick up Garurumon, and throw him into both Ikkakumon and Greymon. 

'It's like his strength is unlimited,' Tentomon uttered in thought as he concentrated on getting as close to Iori as he could. 

When Tentomon was close enough, and was just about to sneak and slip his small hand into Iori's pocket, Tentomon saw Iori dig into the pocket himself, taking out his Digivice. Tentomon backed up to make sure that he wouldn't be seen. Everyone else were holding their breaths in anxiety, hoping that Iori wouldn't see Tentomon. 

Right now, Iori was holding up his D-3, which was vibrating like a normal model Digivice and was reacting in the same way that it did whenever a Chosen was using his or her Crest Powers, which had helped them to evolve to their perfect (ultimate) forms. 

"You are stronger than they are, Digmon!" Iori shouted to his Digimon partner. "Apparently, you aren't strong enough which is why they're still fighting against you! Fight harder or try evolving further!!"   
****   
"That was close," Sora sighed in relief. "Iori-kun almost saw him." 

"What luck!" Mimi squealed with a clap. "He took out his Digivice! That should make it easier on Tentomon!"   
****   
"What am I going to do?" Tentomon panicked in thought. "He's going to see me! I'm just lucky that he didn't turn around! Wait, I know! I'll blow it out of his hand!" 

Tentomon flew up very high and flapped his wings as hard as he could, to create a powerful, gust of wind, right in Iori's direction. Due to the unexpected gust of wind, Iori dropped his D-3. Tentomon then flapped his wings harder, growing tired in the process, which blew some of the sand. Tentomon ended up covering the spot where Iori's D-3 had fallen. 

"Stupid desert sand storms," Iori muttered as he kneeled down to look for it, not once taking his eye off of Digmon. "Where'd that thing go!" 

Tentomon, who had seen where it had dropped exactly, quietly scooted it aside from out of the sand, so that Iori wouldn't see it nor hear him. Tentomon was about to pick it up, when he came to a shocking, surprising realization… 

'How am I going to pick it up! I don't have any hands and the hands that I have are too small to hold something as big as a Digivice!'   
****   
"Um, I just thought of something you guys," Mimi said, slight worry in her voice. 

"What?" Yamato asked. 

"Tentomon's in trouble." 

"Huh?" 

"He doesn't have any hands! How is he going to pick it up!" 

"Don't worry, Mimi! I have an idea!" 

The grass-like Digi walked out a bit and braced herself. "This should be close enough," she said, hoping that she was right. "Poison Ivy!" her voice echoed. 

Palmon's vines extended, grabbing the Digivice along with Tentomon. 

"Whoa..." Tentomon said as he felt the vines wrap around him, and being pulled away. 

"What was that?" Iori turned around, but didn't see anyone. "Hmm, I thought I heard something…"   
****   
"Thanks, Palmon," Tentomon breathed out. 

"No problem," Palmon smiled. "Now let's go." 

The two rushed back to where the others were, but Tentomon was too tired to fly and remained on foot, and Palmon felt as if she wanted to lie down. 

When they got back, both collapsed to the ground as if they had run in a race of some sort, Iori's D-3 falling to the ground right beside them. 

"I…feel…weak…" Tentomon panted. 

"I do, too." 

"But you guys didn't even battle," Yamato pointed out. 

"I know," Palmon said, still trying to catch her breath, "but ever since I went near that Digivice, I feel as if I'm depleted of energy." 

"Who cares, just get that thing away from---" 

Before Tentomon knew it, he had devolved back to Motimon. Same thing happened with Palmon, she devolved back to Tanemon. 

"--me," Motimon finished up with a sweat drop. 

"What happened!" Sora asked, amazed to see the two devolve to their lower forms. 

"The Digivice!" Yamato pointed. "It drained them of their energy somehow! Are you sure that Hawkmon can get back okay?" 

"I'm positive," Mimi nodded in assurance. "I have faith in Hawkmon and he's probably the strongest child-leveled Digimon we have right now!" 

Mimi picked up the Digivice, which was still in the same spot where Palmon had dropped it, and handed it to Hawkmon. 

"Get this to Koushirou as fast as you can!" Mimi instructed. "We'll hold off Iori a bit longer so that you can get a head start." 

Hawkmon accepted the device, and too felt awkward. 

"Hawkmon, are you okay?" Sora asked. 

"I feel a bit weak, but I am still full of energy," the hawk responded. "I do not feel so weak that I would have to devolve back to Poromon just to regain strength." 

With that, Hawkmon took off, the Digivice being held in his small talons. 

"You poor dears," Mimi said as she picked up both Motimon and Tanemon. "I don't know what that Ichijouji kid is up to, but it isn't good!" 

"Good luck, Hawkmon," Taichi mumbled as he watched Hawkmon fly off. He then looked back out towards the battle. "I don't think Ikkakumon, Greymon, or Garurumon can take much more…"   
****   
Back at the barrier… 

"Wow, that's really cool, Izumi-senpai!" Miyako praised, still looking at everything Koushirou's laptop had to offer. 

"Thanks, I try." 

"You know, I've never noticed this folder here labeled Playlist. What's in it?" 

"Oh, those are just my mp3 files. That is my favorites folder." 

Miyako clicked on the folder, opening it to reveal quite a few mp3 files. She then started to read off the names… 

"Let's see, you have Version Up, Open Mind, Sekaijuu no Keshiki wo, Dengeki Rhapsody, Watashi no Gosenfu, Crash de Bingo!, Fly High, Ai no Kishi, Ashita wa Motto, Super Girl, Shiny Days, Digital Scratch!, Dancin' on the Sky, Power of Earth, and many more! 

"Wow, what a collection! I have heard all of those before and I really like the song Crash de Bingo! since it sorta describes me. I also really like Fly High and Ai no Kishi too. Ai no Kishi reminds me of Hawkmon, and that instrumental song, Dancin' on the Sky, makes me think of Holsmon and me soaring through the sky…" 

"Those are just my favorites. The rest of my mp3s are in that other folder right beside it." 

"Out of all of those of your favorites folder, which is your total favorite?" 

"Well, I am really fond of the songs Version Up and Open Mind; both describe me pretty well, I'd say. I feel as if I can relate to them. Version Up reminds me of how I thought of things when I was younger, and Open Mind makes me think of how I perceive life in general now. 

"I guess after those two, I like Super Girl, it reminds me of Mimi-san some thinking about it now. Then after that, I guess Crash de Bingo! Come to think of it, it reminds me of you; I guess it is due to the fact that you use the phrase 'Bingo' quite a bit." 

"I do? I say bingo a lot?" 

"Yeah, you do." 

"I never noticed it. That's one good laptop of yours, Izumi-senpai. It has so much space and memory. Where did you get it?" 

"To be honest with you, I'm not too sure. I got it as a present from my parents." 

"Hey, what _are_ your parents like? Getting right down to it, I only really met your mother once, even when you were in Elementary School, but she left to do some marketing, and you never really talk about them." She laughed a bit. "I bet they're computer geniuses like you, right?" 

Izzy shifted a little. 

"Not…really," he uttered slowly. "They are very nice people." 

"You're talking about them as if they're strangers to you." 

"Now, that's silly," the boy nervously laughed. "Of course they're not strangers, what a thing for you to say." 

"Then what are you talking about? Why do you talk as if the are?" 

The boy hated to talk about his parents, since he _was_ still a bit embarrassed over his being adopted. He just felt that it was better if no one really knew about it. He didn't really want to share his "secret," even though it really wasn't much of a secret. It never came up in conversation for anyone _to_ know about it. Even _he_ didn't know, until he overheard his parents talking one night, years ago. 

It still bothered him that he was adopted, just not as much as it used to. 

"Well?" the girl demanded, her arms crossed. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," the boy responded nervously, his train of thought broken. "My parents are very nice individuals, but I don't know them…" 

"I know what you mean! But normally, it's the other way around. My parents don't really know me. I'm so different compared to my sisters and brother." 

"I didn't mean that I didn't know them figuratively, I mean it literally…" 

"Literally? Your mother and father are very nice; I don't get it…" 

"I don't know them because, well…" 

"Because?" 

"Because, they…" the boy stopped abruptly. He just couldn't bring himself to share such personal, and embarrassing, news even if it _was_ Miyako. 

"Izumi-senpai?" 

"Oh, yeah. I don't know them because of what you said. We've, um, grown apart some." 

Miyako stared at the boy and blinked, not really believing him since he seemed to make it up on the spur of the moment. 

"Are you sure that's all?" 

Koushirou turned his attention to his laptop and replied with an unconvincing, "Yes, I'm sure." 

'He's hiding something,' Miyako thought as she studied her friend, the uneasy look about his face. She could tell that he obviously didn't want to talk about his parents, and decided not to meddle. She then forced out a laugh, and said, "Boy, so you have that problem too, eh Izumi-senpai? I think all kids go through with that." 

"Yeah," he responded distantly and quietly. 

Giving up on getting him to talk, she decided to change the subject. But before she could, she saw an icon blinking on Koushirou's laptop screen. 

"Hey, look, it's an email," she pointed. 

Izzy went to check it out. 

"It is from Yamato-san, and he said that Hawkmon is on the way back with the D-3! That's great!" the boy cheered. He then read over the rest of the e-mail. "Their Digimon are currently battling against Iori and Digmon so that way, Hawkmon will have a better chance of getting here unnoticed." 

"Koushirou! Koushirou, come in, Koushirou!" Miyako heard a voice say. 

"It's Jyou-senpai," Miyako identified. "They must have found something!" 

Izzy put on the headset. 

"Jyou-san, what is the matter?" 

"What's the matter is that there was no Dark Tower!" 

"What are you talking about?" 

"It was all a trick by the Digimon Kaiser to throw us off track!" Jyou explained. "We need to find our way back, but I don't think I can; mind navigating for us?" 

"Huh, what?" the redhead shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm still a bit surprised at what you just told me. I'll let Miyako-kun navigate you back. I have to figure this out!" 

"Don't bother, we already have and we'll tell you all about it when we get there. Yamato and the others are going to come back as soon as they get that Digivice from Iori-kun. Apparently, his Digivice is the key to figuring out this entire thing." 

"Alright!" Koushirou nodded. "Miyako-kun, you wouldn't mind navigating them back for me, would you?" 

"No problem." 

Izzy handed her the headset and she put it on and navigated the four back while Koushirou thought over the situation. 

'I wonder what Jyou-san meant,' the boy pondered in thought. 'I also wonder why Piyomon is still out. Seems she would've gotten her energy back a long time ago. I have never seen her, or any other Digimon, react in such a fashion.' 

"You got that, senpai? After that, you should walk and keep on straight, according to the map, and then you should end up right here." 

"Thanks, Miyako-kun." 

"No problem, Jyou-senpai!" 

Miyako took off the headset and started talking to Izzy. 

"Earth to Izumi-senpai!" She waved her hand in front of his face. "What's the matter?" 

"Oh, I was just wondering what Jyou-san meant, and I was also wondering why Piyomon is so weak. She is still asleep." 

"That is strange." Miyako stared over at the knocked out bird. "Maybe Iori and Digmon are a lot stronger than we all thought?" 

Izzy shrugged and sighed, "I don't know and it's killing me that I can't come up with some type of an explanation." 

A short while later, Jyou and the others returned with a tired Hawkmon being held by Daisuke. Hawkmon arrived there at the same exact time as Jyou and the others, his instincts and good sense of direction paying off. 

Hawkmon looked as if he were on his deathbed. Miyako gasped at the sight of her tired out Digimon friend… 


	15. Miyako's Great Idea!

*Hi again. Here's another part of my wonderful Digimon story...well, maybe not THAT great. (-_-). I personally think this part is quite, boring. You guys can be the judge. Don't forget to leave reviews and comments and let me know what you think. Now, I do not own any of these characters and/or places you would find on the show, in the comics, etc.* 

Part 15: Miyako's Great Idea! 

"Hawkmon!" 

She ran up and grabbed Hawkmon from Daisuke and started to rock him in her arms. 

"What happened to Hawkmon!" Miyako demanded of the four. 

"We don't know," Hikari shrugged. 

"He just landed right at our feet," Takeru said. 

"And he was holding this…" 

The goggle boy put out his hand. In it was Iori's Digivice. 

Koushirou's eyes lit up as he rushed over to Daisuke, snatching the Digivice away from Daisuke. "Give me that!" 

"You didn't have to snatch it," Daisuke muttered. 

"Sorry," Koushirou quickly, and routinely, apologized as he made his way back to his laptop. 

"Miyako-san…that Digivice…" Hawkmon forced out weakly. 

"What's wrong with it?" Tailmon asked. 

Tailmon, V-mon, and Patamon all went near the Digivice that Koushirou was now holding. They then felt as if their energy were leaving them. V-mon felt the way   
Hawkmon did, but Patamon and Tailmon, both devolved back to Tokomon and Plotmon (Salamon). 

"What happened to my Patamon!" 

"Why did Tailmon evolve backwards!" 

"V-mon, are you all right?" Daisuke asked. "You don't look so well." 

"I don't know," V-mon said while holding his head, feeling a bit faint. "Just by going near that Digivice of Iori's, it made me feel all extra weak." 

"Same with me," Tokomon frowned. "As Patamon, I felt so weak that I couldn't remain at that level, so I devolved." 

Plotmon nodded in agreement. All of a sudden, Plotmon and Tokomon evolved. 

"Tokomon shinka...Patamon!" 

"Plotmon shinka...Tailmon!" 

"That was weird," Miyako said, setting Hawkmon down. "Your energy couldn't have been that low if you got it back that quickly." 

"I can't explain it," Tailmon said. 

Koushirou was about to analyze the Digivice, when he was startled, along with the others, by the sounds of some screaming. They all turned around to see Sora, Taichi, Yamato, Mimi - who was holding Tanemon and Motimon - and the other Digimon, running through the barrier. When they realized that they were safe, they all breathed out in relief. 

"That must've been some battle if Togemon and Kabuterimon had to devolve back to Tanemon and Motimon to replenish their energy," Koushirou dully stated, noticing the two Baby II (In-training) leveled Digimon being held in Mimi's arms. 

"It wasn't by choice," Sora said. "They didn't battle at all." 

"They didn't even evolve past their child (rookie) levels," Taichi added. 

"What do you mean?" Miyako asked in surprise. 

"That Digivice," Taichi pointed to Koushirou's hand, "it made them evolve backwards or something!" 

"Wait, didn't you guys say something about the Digimon Kaiser having a Digivice that kept Digimon from evolving; a Dark Digivice?" Mimi asked. 

"Yeah, what about it?" Daisuke asked. 

"It's acting just like it," Yamato noted. "Only it seems to be more powerful." 

"The Digimon Kaiser's Digivice just keeps us from evolving; it doesn't drain us of our energy like that Digivice of Iori-han is doing!" Motimon complained. "Just keep that thing away from me! I don't want to end up devolving back to Babumon (Pabumon) like the time Koushirou-han gave up his soul (curiosity) to Vadermon!" 

"Right…" Koushirou trailed off absent-mindedly as he started to type on his laptop. 

"I'm glad you all are here," Jyou said. "We have a lot of information for you." 

Jyou's group started to explain about the voice and what it had told them. 

"Whoa, weird," Yamato said. 

"Jyou-senpai, do you believe any of it?" 

"Well, Sora, that's all we have to go on right now, and the fact that we didn't find a Dark Tower goes with his story of the Digimon Kaiser trying to throw us off-track from finding the real source." 

"I still find it weird how Piyomon still hasn't awakened," Miyako said. 

"What!!" 

"She's right, Sora-san; Piyomon has been asleep since you and the others left," Koushirou spoke up. 

Sora ran over to Piyomon and held her in her arms. 

"Piyomon, wake up!" 

The bird opened her eyes barely, and said in a weak, deathly tone, "Sora…so…tired…" 

"Never mind; just rest," Sora's voice slightly quivered, setting the bird down. 

Sora felt herself about to cry as Piyomon started to snore soundly, her breathing sounding a bit labored. Sora then grabbed the person closest to her and started crying onto their shoulder. Surprisingly, the person next to her was Koushirou. 

He was now blushing nervously, hugging her back with lots of uneasiness. 

"Um, Sora-san, I really, um, ought to start analyzing this Digivice. And everything will be, um...fine!" The boy then thought, 'I would have _loved_ this attention from her a couple of years ago!' 

"We have to help Piyomon, and stop Iori-kun and that old spoiled brat, Ichijouji!" Sora continued to cry. 

"Um, Sora, everything will be fine," Taichi said as he patted Sora on the shoulder. 

The tennis player lifted up her head and saw whom she was crying on. 

"I'm sorry, Koushirou-kun," she apologized as she wiped her eyes. 

"That's okay…I think?" the boy responded nervously. 

Taichi helped her up from off of the ground from where she was sitting with Piyomon. Sora couldn't help it and started crying again, this time on Taichi. She really didn't care who she cried on, or who saw her since she was overly upset. 

"I'll go analyze that Digivice now," Koushirou announced with a sweat drop, still a bit surprised over the fact Sora was crying on him. 

Tai had his hands full with Sora. She just couldn't stop crying. 

"This isn't like Sora to cry," Yamato whispered to the others. "Mimi yeah, but not Sora. She must be _really_ upset." 

"I know!" Mimi agreed. "I'm the one that's really emotional. The least little things make me cry." 

"Nothing makes _me_ cry!" Daisuke proclaimed proudly. 

After hearing his human partner say such a thing, V-mon smirked and motioned for Daisuke to bend over a bit. He then whispered something to him. This then caused the boy to cry out streamed tears. 

"Daisuke-kun?" Hikari turned to V-mon. "What's wrong with him?" 

"What did you tell him?" Tailmon asked. 

"It must be pretty bad if he is crying like that," Patamon said. 

"Yeah, it must be," Hawkmon nodded. 

V-mon pulled the other Digimon aside and whispered, "I just told him that Takeru is secretly Hikari and that it has been that way since his first visit to the Digital World when they first found me." 

Patamon, Tailmon, and Hawkmon laughed a bit looking over at TK and Kari. 

"What did you tell him, V-mon?" Hikari asked. "I hate to see him upset." 

"Yeah, and why are you looking at Hikari-chan and me like that?" 

"I cannot say, my lips are sealed," V-mon chuckled. 

Hikari and Takeru shrugged. 

"We'll get everything back to normal. We promise, Sora!" Taichi then gave Sora a smile. "_I_ promise!" 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so emotional." She sniffled a bit. "It's like I am sad, mad, and overwhelmed all at the same time." 

"I'm still trying to figure out that riddle that voice told you guys," Miyako said as she pondered. "Two angels will get Iori back to normal, a girl will get Ken back to his kind self, and the red-headed boy will find the source of what's controlling Iori's Transparent Dark Rings on his wrists. 

"We already figured out the angel thing; Patamon and Tailmon. As for the redhead, it has to be Izumi-senpai. Who else is smart when it comes to figuring things out around here with red hair?" 

The girl trailed off a bit as she tried to figure out the last part of the riddle. 

"But who is the girl that gets Ken back to his true, kind self?" 

Everyone shrugged to Miyako's question. 

"Well, he _did_ say that the girl is pretty!" Daisuke stared with a love-struck look at his crush. "Maybe Hikari-chan is the beautiful girl that gets him back to normal." 

"You have _got_ to be kidding! My Digimon is supposed to help get Iori-kun back to normal; he didn't say a thing about me getting the Digimon Kaiser back to normal." 

Hikari noticed the sad look that Daisuke got on his face after she had rebutted what he had assumed. She didn't really like to upset anyone, Daisuke included. She knew that he was just trying to be nice. 

"But thank you for the compliment, Daisuke-kun," she smiled. "I really appreciate it." 

Not able to take it anymore, Daisuke started to cry again. "Hikari-chan, _please_ tell me that you and TE aren't dating!!" 

"What?" Hikari and Takeru asked surprisingly in unison. 

The boy then got down on his knees, his hands clasped together, as if begging or pleading. 

"Please don't say you two are dating, and if you did, would you keep it a secret? I can take it if you are dating, just let me know so that I won't go crazy!!" the boy finished up, a pathetic whimpering tone in his voice. 'And find a way to break it up! I can't lose her to Takeru, not without a fair fight!' Daisuke added on in thought, a somewhat sly look on his tear-stained face. 

"He's cracked," Gomamon said, shaking his head at the boy. 

"I can't believe he took V-mon seriously," Tailmon sweat dropped. "He apparently didn't remember Hikari's story about how short a while Takeru has been around." 

Everyone looked at Daisuke like he was crazy. Yamato and Taichi had weird looks on their faces. 

"Takeru! Why didn't you tell me you were dating! There are some things you should know that I _know_ mom has probably never mentioned!" 

TK sweat dropped. 

"I probably already know..." he muttered. 

"Hikari, how _dare_ you date in secret! I have to warn you of a few things when it comes to guys!" 

Hearing this, Yamato bawled up his fists, slightly angered. "What are you saying about Takeru! That he can't be trusted if he ever went out on a date with a girl!" 

"I didn't say anything about him! I am just warning Hikari about overly-handsome guys because they only have one thing on their minds since they're normally overly cocky or arrogant, and act like real jerks since they know they can have any girl that they want!" Taichi retaliated, stepping up to Yamato, staring the boy right in his face. 

"Not _this_ girl," Hikari muttered. 

"He takes after me in looks so of _course_ he's going to be handsome! You can't deny that! Even _I_ can't deny it! How _dare_ you accuse him of such a thing, not to mention me for that matter!" 

"You make it sound like a good thing, being incredibly handsome and having girls do whatever you want them to, and I _didn't_ insult him _or_ you!" 

"You did indirectly!" 

The two continued to argue, and started to physically fight. Takeru and Hikari sweat dropped and gave Daisuke an annoyed look, who laughed nervously.   
*****   
"Shouldn't somebody try to break that fight up?" Miyako asked. 

"Let them make fools of themselves, why should we get hurt because of them," Sora stated, having no intention of stopping Yamato and Taichi. 

"Good point," Mimi agreed. 

"Besides, everyone knows how often I broke up their pointless fights and played peacemaker when it came to those two. Let someone else do it for a change." 

"Yeah, seems that you or Jyou-senpai always broke up the fights between those two when we were here years ago."   
*****   
"You guys have it all wrong!" Hikari shouted over the commotion. "We are _not_ dating!" 

Takeru walked up to Yamato and Taichi and stood in the middle of them, pushing the two of them apart. 

"We are _not_ secretly dating, like she said. Why in the world would we keep a secret like that if we were?" 

Hikari gave Takeru a questioning look after his current statement. She wondered what he meant by it. He made it seem like they were currently dating and wasn't afraid to let anyone know about it. 

"You and Taichi-san would probably be the first to know if we were!" Takeru then looked over at Daisuke. "Where in the _world_ would you get an idea like that?!" 

Daisuke looked over at V-mon and gave him an annoyed look. 

"Well, um, I guess my imagination just ran away with me," he responded with an embarrassed laugh.   
*****   
RP: You guys can forgive me for that unnecessary scene with Dai-kun, right? It wasn't made to make him look stupid or anything. I just couldn't resist having an overreacting moment with him.   
*****   
"Hmm, I don't like the looks of this, Wormmon. Those kids are nowhere to be found. None of my surveillance equipment can seem to pick up on their where a bouts. It is like they disappeared. How could I lose track of them!" 

The boy started to rub his chin, pondering over his situation. 

"I think I will now make my debut to our young friend. I'll just have to cut this vacation of mine short." 

"Do you really think you should?" 

"Why shouldn't I? He is my first human experiment, after all! I want to make sure everything goes right!" 

The boy looked at some readings on his computer screen. "Besides, there seems to be some bugs in the system, and I can't quite figure it out." 

The boy shrugged it off as he stood up and walked out of the room, Wormmon slithering behind him. "No matter, it's probably nothing." The boy came to the entrance of his base and pushed a button. After a few moments, the door opened and Ken called for a couple of his Digimon followers. "MegaSeadramon, Airdamon, let's go!" 

Hearing Ken bellow for them, MegaSeadramon, along with Airdramon, flew to him. "Yes sir!" 

"Oh, and while you are at it, make sure to find those Gokimon and Garbamon, and have them destroyed since they served no purpose at all," Ken instructed. "They didn't return to help my human subject like I instructed, even though he didn't really need it." The boy then muttered in annoyance, "Those foolish insects! They probably ran off to that Digimon Diner to get drunk again!" He heaved out a sigh while shaking his head. "Good help is _so_ hard to find these days." 

"What about me, master?" Wormmon squeaked up fearfully. 

"What _about_ you?" 

"Can't I come along too?" 

"Oh _please_ let me come along with you, Ken-chan!" Wormmon practically begged. 

It took the young boy a while, but he finally gave in. 

"Yeah, I guess you can come," he mumbled slowly. 

"Oh thank you _so_ much, Ken-chan! You don't know how much this means to me!" Wormmon squeaked in delight. 'He's being so kind to me! I hope this _never_ ends! It's like a dream! The future I dreamed of, Ken-chan treating me nicely after all of this time! He hasn't been nice to me since he was a little boy, before he became the Digimon Kaiser and before he dipped his Digivice into the Dark Ocean, transforming it!' 

A look of guilt then appeared on the small, bug-like Digimon's face. 

'I know all that he is doing is wrong, but Ken-chan has finally started to accept me as his partner again. I don't want to sabotage that, but my fellow Digimon…can I _really_ continue to betray them like this and watch them suffer in pain?' 

The worm's thoughts were broken by the sounds of a tapping foot, and an annoyed grumbling sound. 

"Wormmon, come on! We have work to do!" 

"Coming, Ken-chan." 

Wormmon hopped onto Airdramon with Ken and they headed out towards the desert, the base disappearing from sight...   
*****   
"Do you see anything different between them, Izumi-senpai? I don't." 

"No, not a thing, but right now, I'm trying to track the wave." 

"Since it wasn't coming from a Dark Tower, it was probably at his base, but who knows where that is." 

"Daisuke-kun," Koushirou said, overhearing the goggle boy, "you just may be onto something." 

"Wow, good thinking!" Hikari complimented. 

"Ehehe, thanks." 

"Is he finished with that Digivice yet!" Motimon impatiently asked. "I hate walking around as Motimon! It's too annoying!" 

"I know what you mean! I hate being carried around like I can't do anything for myself since I don't have any feet as Tanemon!" 

Both Tanemon and Motimon were sitting on Mimi's lap. She was sitting underneath a tree close to where Koushirou and Miyako were, mainly because there was a lot of shade there. 

"Don't worry," Mimi said while giving the two an assuring smile. "Koushirou and Miyako-chan know what they're doing. Everything will be fine." 

"Just a nano you two," Koushirou said to Motimon and Tanemon. "I've almost got this figured out." 

"I've counted about five 'nanos' so far since you said, 'just a nano,'" Motimon huffed sarcastically. 

Izzy ignored Motimon's remark, and went back to work. 

While Koushirou and Miyako were trying to figure out the Digivice, Takeru was talking with the others about the weird light that surrounded Hikari, which allowed Tailmon to evolve to Angewomon. 

"It was strange," Takeru said, recalling the events of the previous day. "She was sad, and crying some, and then that weird, pink light surrounded her entire body!" 

"Thinking about it now, the light looked like it was coming from her Digivice," Patamon said. 

"I know this may sound strange, but I don't really remember any bright light yesterday." 

"What do you mean?" Daisuke asked. 

"I really don't remember. The last thing I remember was Angemon catching me, and Angewomon carrying me out to safety. Tailmon and I talked about it before we went to sleep last night…" 

_"Boy, am I glad that oniichan is staying out late tonight, even though it's a bit lonesome here without him." The girl then gave out a playful smile while sitting in the bottom bunk of the room she and Taichi shared. "Well, at least tonight, maybe I can actually get some sleep since he snores so loudly."_

_"That's a catnap I'm looking forward to!" Tailmon laughed._

_Hikari's playful smile left her face, as it turned to more of a serious one._

_"Tailmon, how did you evolve to Angewomon?"_

_"I don't know, Hikari, it just happened."_

_"But I don't have my crest power anymore for you to go perfect (ultimate). Since I don't have it, evolving past your adult (champion) level would be difficult for you to do."_

_"That strange light that came from you made it possible for me to evolve. The light energized me enough to."_

_"Light?" the girl asked in confusion. "What strange light?"_

_"What do you mean, 'what strange light'? That bright pink light that surrounded you when you were crying."_

_"I don't remember anything like that happening."_

_"That's strange. How can you not remember?"_

_"I don't know, but I don't remember anything like that happening."_

_"So, what do you remember before Angemon and I saved you?"_

_"Well, I remember these flames surrounding me, and then the rope tearing. After that, I remember hearing a voice saying that everything was going to be all right. I was wondering who was talking and at first thought that it was Takeru-kun, or Daisuke-kun, or Miyako-san, or someone, but the voice belonged to that of an adult, I just can't explain it. That voice also seemed a bit familiar to me, but I just can't put my finger on it._

_"After that, I remember, well, nothing. It was like I wasn't even there, or either took a short nap, because when I awoke, I was being held by Angewomon."_

_"Why didn't you tell us this when we came back from the Digital World?"_

_"It slipped my mind to. I forgot about it until you asked me just now."_

_Before Tailmon could respond, both heard a knock on the door, and saw a woman entering the room._

_"Hikari, what are you still doing up?"_

_"Gomen, kaasan," the girl apologized._   
*****   
RP: Gomen, kaasan, just means, "Sorry mother/mom," etc. For the original, both Hikari and Taichi call her "kaasan."   
*****   
_"Just because your brother isn't here, and is staying out late with Sora and a couple more of his friends at a party does not mean that you get to stay up any later. You have school in the morning and you have to get up earlier than he does since you're still in Elementary School." Mrs. Yagami noticed a funny looking stuffed animal on Hikari's bed, and picked it up while sitting on Hikari's bunk. "You can play with your stuffed animals later. I honestly didn't think you still played with them. This is a cute cat, though; odd looking with the gloves, but cute."_

_She put it down._

_"It's one of a kind, that's for sure."_

_"Where did you get it? I recall neither your father nor me getting you something like this. I don't recall Taichi getting you something like this either."_

_Kari wracked her brain and said the first thing that came to mind._

_"Um…um…it was a gift…yeah!! Um…um…Daisuke-kun gave it to me for an early birthday present!"_

_"That was nice of him. He's a very nice boy. At least you have good taste in friends, now you should get yourself some sleep."_

_Hikari gave out a nervous laugh. "Okay, I'll go to sleep right now. Yes ma'am, I shall!"_

_"Good," the woman smiled. She then noticed how much Hikari was sweating, who was sweating due to her being nervous, and Tailmon's being found out. "Are you okay?" She felt her forehead. "I hope you're not coming down with anything. It's been a couple of years now since you've gotten really sick, but I don't want to take any chances. Maybe I should go and get the thermometer to take your temperature. You are perspiring quite a bit."_

_"I'm fine, mom, really I am!"_

_"Hmm, let me get you a glass of juice," the woman continued, ignoring Hikari's insisting that she was fine. "Maybe some of my Oolong Tea, or some plain Herbal Tea will do the trick. Or maybe I could brew some Green Tea, or some Black Tea, or better yet, I could brew all of them together."_

_The girl sweat dropped from her mother's suggestion of brewing four different types of teas together._

_"I'm fine, mom, really."_

_"I'm going to get you some orange juice and an aspirin," Mrs. Yagami said while standing up. "It looks as if you're coming down with a fever. I'll be right back."_

_She took off and went to the kitchen to get some juice and then to the medicine cabinet for some aspirin._

_"Is your mother always like this?" Tailmon asked in a whisper after Mrs. Yagami had left._

_"Always. Whenever me or oniichan sneezes, she's ready to call the doctor."_

_Before Tailmon could respond, Mrs. Yagami came back with a glass of juice and an aspirin for Hikari._

_"Now take this," Mrs. Yagami said while handing her the pill and the juice. "It'll help stop your fever from rising, if you're getting one."_

_"But mom, I don't have a fever."_

_"Quiet! I am not taking any chances with you! I don't want you getting sick on me! We came too close to losing you once before due to our not taking your fevers seriously._

_"Before, your father and I would say, 'Oh, it's normal for a child to get a fever, there's nothing to really worry about, it'll go away,' and look what happened!_

_"How many times did we have to take you to the hospital or the doctor for your getting sick? And that one time where you did almost die from going outside, when you knew you had the flu, to play with Taichi and you collapsed!"_

_She hugged the young girl. Tailmon was in between the both of them and she was pretty much being suffocated._

_"I don't want anything to happen to you, so every time you show any signs of being sick, I'm going to worry. Sure you might see me as overprotective or overbearing, but it's only because I care about you, Hikari."_

_Hikari stared at her mother, almost wanting to cry herself, but not as much as Tailmon currently since Mrs. Yagami was still hugging Kari._

_Hikari always thought her mom was overprotective, but not because she was afraid of losing her. She now realized exactly why she seemed to get much more concerned about her whenever she did show any symptoms of a cold, or an allergy or any other type of a sickness than with her brother._

_To satisfy her mother, she took the aspirin and drank the juice. She hated taking pills, but she did it anyway._

_"Atta girl," Mrs. Yagami smiled, standing up. "Now I'm sure you'll feel much better in the morning." After Hikari drank down all of the contents of the glass, she handed it to her mother. "Now, you get some sleep."_

_The woman started out the door of the room, about to close it, but before she did, Hikari called to her._

_"Mom, I love you," she said slowly. "And thank you for caring."_

_"I love you too, sweetheart," Mrs. Yagami nodded, smiling back. "Me, and your father, and your brother always will." She then started to close the door. "Oyasumi."_

_"G'night."_

_Mrs. Yagami left and closed the door behind her._

_"Tailmon, why is your face that light shade of blue?"_

_The cat started to breathe to try and catch her breath. "I couldn't breathe, that's why! Couldn't she have hugged just you and left me out of it!"_

_"That was close," Hikari sighed out in relief. "I don't think mom or dad would remember you, Tailmon. I'm sorry for your being suffocated just now, though. When mom saw you, she didn't even make any reference to you. She just thought you were some new stuffed animal. It's strange how no one seems to remember anything about you Digimon."_

_The cat like Digi took in a deep breath, finally recovering from the lack of air she had from the hug._

_"Wow, she really cares about you."_

_Hikari nodded and said quietly..."Yeah...she does..."_

_"Thinking about it, we should talk with the others about this."_

_"About what? About how much my mother cares about my well-being?"_

_"No, about that strange light."_

_"Oh, that," Hikari said as if it was no big deal._

_'Strange, she honestly doesn't remember a thing about it. Could this be a trick by the Digimon Kaiser?'_

_She looked at Kari who was now sound asleep. She shrugged and decided to get some sleep herself, but it took her a while since she was still puzzled over her evolution earlier that afternoon..._

"I still think it's strange how you don't remember anything about that light, and that voice. How could you hear a voice and not remember it? Are you _sure_ you aren't the girl that's supposed to help get Ichijouji back to normal?" 

Daisuke spoke in a serious manner as he continued, determined to figure out everything since he was truly anxious to get Iori back. 

"And I'm not going by that beautiful girl thing, either. I'm going by all of the weird stuff that's been happening with you. That light of yours seems to have the effect to heal and restore energy. 

"Look at our Digimon from yesterday; they were all tired out from battling against Pinocchimon, but after that strange glow from you, Hawkmon said that he felt like he had been re-energized, just like the other Digimon said." 

"True, but Ichijouji isn't a Digimon," Takeru noted. "So far, all of this healing and re-energizing stuff has occurred with our Digimon. Would it still apply to Ichijouji since he's not a Digimon?" 

"I don't see why not." Daisuke then thought of something. "Hey, I bet Hikari-chan has some type of a special power from when she had a crest, or better yet, maybe she still has some of her crest power left over!" 

"Those are all nice theories, and I agree with Daisuke-kun," Sora said. "Hikari-chan, you are definitely important in some way, and I don't think it's just to help Tailmon evolve to her perfect form." 

"Yeah, and with all the strange things that has been happening with you, I wouldn't be surprised if you did still have some of your natural crest power still within you," Yamato said. 

"Or maybe, somehow, she has regenerated it!" Takeru exclaimed. "You know, she somehow made it so that she could get all of her crest powers back even though she used it to create that barrier." 

The other kids, minus Koushirou and Miyako who were trying to track the wave of the Digivice, nodded. 

"That's nice of you all to have so much faith in me, but I don't think the Digimon Kaiser is going to change just because of some weird light I don't even remember," Hikari said, her voice filled with modesty. "Thinking about it now, I think I finally recognize that voice I heard yesterday when Tailmon evolved. It is the same voice that belonged to that person who told us of this prophecy when we went in search of the tower." 

"Maybe it was, you never know," Jyou said. 

"Maybe," Hikari shrugged. 

"Are you finished with that stupid thing yet, Koushirou-han!" everyone heard an impatient Motimon shout at a certain redheaded computer whiz. 

"Just a nano, Tento…er I mean Motimon," Koushirou corrected himself. "I think I almost have this figured out." 

Motimon heaved out an annoyed sigh. "You said that over 10 minutes ago!" 

"Motimon, this is tough because he has to find the right coordinates," Miyako told the impatient short-armed pink blob. She was surprised that Koushirou didn't comment in some way to calm his Digimon down, but just seemed to tune him out completely. The girl then snapped her fingers. "Wait, I have an idea!" 

Izzy sat there awaiting her suggestion. 

"Instead of trying to find it in the desert, we should narrow down our search. Try searching all over the Digital World, or better yet, a place where he would most likely not be; yet, a place where it would be easy to hide something as big as a base that would go unnoticed by others!" 

"I was getting there…eventually…" 

Izzy felt foolish for not thinking of something like that himself. 

"I'm sure you were," Miyako smiled. 

"Motimon shinka…" 

"Tanemon shinka…" 

"Tentomon!" 

"Palmon!" 

"Great, you two got your energy back!" Mimi smiled. Her smile then faded a bit. "You know, you two are kind of heavy. If you don't mind…" 

"Oh, sorry," Tentomon apologized. 

Both Tentomon and Palmon got off of Mimi's lap. 

"Hey, about what Miyako said, I have an idea where you could look first!" Palmon said. 

"Same here," Tentomon said. 

"Where?" everyone ask. 

"The forest," both Tentomon and Palmon responded. 

"My area. There are a lot of trees that can cover and hide his base, but since there isn't much room there, that would be the last place anyone would think of to look for it." 

"I also notice that a lot of controlled Digimon hang around in Palmon's area, and sometimes wanders over into mine since she's pretty close to my area. 

"When I was watching Palmon's area for her, I noticed it. Every time I looked, there was some Digimon wearing a ring or spiral, attacking, and I had to evolve to get rid of them, but leading them away is very difficult. Especially since I can't evolve near a Dark Tower." 

"Tell me about it!" Palmon frowned. "It's so tiring and it's annoying." 

"Do any of you other Digimon have trouble with Digimon being controlled in your areas?" Tentomon asked the others. 

"Nope, I hardly ever have any trouble," Agumon responded. 

"I haven't had any trouble since that time Veggiemon was being controlled, and took over the area. Ever since his defeat, the Digimon Kaiser hasn't dared to come back," Gabumon said. 

"Nope, nowhere in my area," Gomamon replied. "After we defeated him that one time, he hasn't come back or tried rebuilding in that area." 

"To make matters worse, there's a Dark Tower near my area as well as Tentomon's every day! Even after we destroy the ring or spiral on the Digimon, we all work together to knock them down, but by morning, it's right back up. How he gets there so fast to do it is a mystery, since he normally never comes out at night." 

Tentomon nodded in agreement. 

"Hey, could you guys keep it down a bit, please, I'm trying to concentrate, here." 

"Um, Koushirou, have you heard a word they've said?" 

Izzy wasn't really paying attention to them and didn't even respond, so Mimi sighed and ignored him. He then shouted "Prodigious!" 

"What!?!" 

"I found it! I was _finally_ able to find it!" 

"Ichijouji's base?" Daisuke asked. 

"Yeah, now here is where it is." 

Everyone stared at Koushirou's laptop screen, which had a topographical map of the area. 

"Hey, Tentomon, we were right!" 

"Naturally. There has to be _some_ reason why our areas have the most trouble with his controlled Digimon." 

Izzy got up and Miyako took over at the computer to try and get a full, detailed map up so that they could actually find their way there. While she was doing this, Izzy started to explain the process he had used. Nobody really understood it, though, since he was using all of that computer jargon and lingo. 

This caused everyone to fall asleep, the Digimon included, standing up. The only ones that didn't fall asleep were Jyou, who listened respectfully, Sora, Mimi, Hikari, whom of which were fighting sleep, Hawkmon and Gabumon, who were both in the same state as Jyou, and Miyako, who wasn't listening completely since she was working on the laptop. 

The oldest one of the group shook his head at everyone for their falling asleep. "The attention span of knats…" 

This annoyed Izzy terribly and caused him to shout out angrily. 

"Damnit, wake up!!" 

Everyone was surprised at what Koushirou had said and all were surprised that he had shouted at them. 

"Koushirou, calm down. _Please_ calm down…" 

He ignored Mimi's pleas and continued to argue, his anger rising even more. 

"Why does everyone always fall asleep whenever I am trying to explain something computer related to them! I'm pretty damn tired of it!" 

"Because we don't understand it," the former leader of the group, Taichi, yawned. "Geez, don't blow a gasket." 

"Not to mention that it's boring with the way that you talk," Daisuke yawned and stretched his arms. 

"You did it and that's all we need to know," Takeru said while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Don't go explaining it if the only people who would have any idea as to what you're talking about is Miyako-san." 

"It's still annoying!" the boy snapped. "All I ask is for all of you to stay awake! What the hell is so difficult about that!" 

"It's _very_ difficult," Taichi bluntly stated, "and calm down. We're sorry." 

"Yes, _please_ calm down. I've never seen you so angry before, and I'm not used of it," Mimi pleaded again. "Come to think of it, I've never seen you angry at all." 

"Well, if you all wouldn't fall _asleep_ on me, maybe I wouldn---" 

"Now, now, Koushirou-han, let's calm down now," Tentomon spoke up cautiously; also a bit scared of his human partner's current attitude. "Your friends have apologized, and now everything is peachy keen." 

"Oh shut up, Tentomon!" the boy replied angrily. "You fell asleep on me too!" 

The eccentric bug looked at Koushirou, feeling hurt and tried not to cry. Everyone else looked at the boy in astonishment. 

"I'm sorry, Koushirou-han. I'm just trying to be…" he choked up and started to sob, "…I just want my tree house back!!" 

"Koushirou-kun, what has gotten into you?" Sora asked, staring at her old friend in disbelief and amazement. 

"Yeah, what happened to our nice, polite Koushirou?" Jyou asked. 

"Nothing!" he snapped at them. 

Miyako felt that she should speak up, but was a bit scared to do so since Izzy wasn't acting like himself. She was scared that he might jump down her throat for her speaking up. 

"All that he said was quite simple, actually." 

She explained what Izzy did, only in simpler terms - meaning less computer jargon - for them and they understood. 

"Oh, _now_ I get it!" Daisuke said, understanding. "Now why didn't he just say that earlier?" 

"I did," Koushirou grumbled, his arms crossed in frustration. 

At this point, Tentomon was still sobbing, which Koushirou heard. His angered look lifted, and was replaced with a look of concern for his friend. 

"Um," the boy managed to say, feeling rather stupid for the way he had acted just moments ago. 

"First Taichi, and now you!" Mimi shook her head. "Apologize this instant!" 

"But I---" 

"Do it now!" Mimi sternly ordered, stepping up to the now taller boy. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but you had no right to yell at everyone the way that you did, and cut it out with the way you were disrespectfully talking to us! That's not like you at all! 

"When I first met you in school years ago, I thought you were a dweeb, and to me then, that was the worst thing _anyone_ could be! But after I got the chance to know you some when we had our adventure here in the Digital World that changed. I realized that you were a nice, decent guy; a bit shy, but still nice. I hated the fact that I didn't get to know you until we had our adventures here in the Digital World instead of before, since we even had the same class together. One other thing you've always been to all of us, is a nice, caring, considerate friend, but right now, I can't even stand to _look_ at you! You're on the same level as a jerk, to me! 

"I would _call_ you a jerk, but I know deep down that you aren't, due to how you normally are, but you are still on the same level as one right now! You are acting no better than Iori is right now, but at least he _has_ an excuse! He isn't responsible for the way he's acting right now! You still have control over _your_ actions and mind!" 

'She's right,' Koushirou thought, thinking over all that Mimi had said to him. 'I don't know what happened or why I blew up at everyone, and I would hate to have Mimi-san hate me. That's not like me at all. I always try to respect everyone and everything. They all deserve my obedience and respect. It is like all of this stuff dealing with Ichijouji is bring out the worst in me. It is like I am so intent on defeating him, and helping to get Iori-kun back to his senses, it's affecting my judgment; but still, that is no reason to snap at everyone.' 

He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed over what he had said and done. 

"Well, everyone, um…I don't know exactly what to say. I'm sorry for the way I acted. I know that's not like me." 

"No kidding," Hikari muttered under her breath. 

"Something just came over me that I can't quite explain. It seems that ever since we have been here, I just want to do everything in my power to help stop the Digimon Kaiser from all that he is doing, and it seems that the slightest little things are irritating me." The boy then bowed to them. "I am really, and truly, sorry for my behavior." 

Mimi gave him a hug. 

"Apology accepted," Mimi smiled after the hug. "You sounded very pure and sincere when you apologized." 

Koushirou nervously smiled from Mimi's hug. "Well, you talked a lot of sense into me just now, and helped me to remember the way I am supposed to be and how one should act. My behavior was very unacceptable just now and was very out of character of me. But either way, I am really sorry everyone, especially to you, Tentomon. I didn't mean to snap at you. You are one of my best friends, and I would hate it if I ever lost your friendship." 

Tentomon "hmmphed," and turned his back stubbornly to Koushirou. 

"C'mon buddy, I'm sorry! Really, I am!" 

"You have scarred me with your rudeness, Koushirou-han!" Tentomon said, turning to face the boy. "I don't know if I can _ever_ forgive you!" 

"No Tentomon, please do forgive me! What could I do to ever make it up to you?" 

"I don't know. I am pretty much traumatized." 

"Just name it, and I shall do it!"   
*****   
Gomamon, Palmon, Hawkmon, Gabumon, and Agumon sighed since they had an idea where Tentomon was going with his request. 

"Why do I have a feeling that what Tentomon is hinting at has to do with a certain Digimon who wears all red and works for a certain Digimon clinic," Gabumon said, his eyes slitted. 

"Oh, so I'm not the only one?" Agumon asked sarcastically. 

"Don't tell me he's talking about _the_ clinic!" Tailmon gasped. 

"That's scary," Patamon shuddered. "I've heard of that place, and the reason the Digimon get sane again is because of those torturous things that Kabukimon, Yashamon, and Rosemon do." 

"Hey, I don't blame him! Rosemon is cute!" Gomamon smiled. 

"You got _that_ right!" V-mon agreed. 

"She's beautiful," Patamon said in a love-struck voice. "Think she'd ever be interested in someone like me?" 

"Only if you evolved!" V-mon laughed. 

Gomamon, Patamon, V-mon, and Agumon started to daydream. 

Gabumon and Hawkmon sweat dropped, embarassed by the four. Palmon and Tailmon sighed in annoyance.   
*****   
"Well, if you _really_ want me to forgive you, try to get me a cut in on Digitamamon and Veggiemon's business. I would do it myself, but I can't since I don't have any kind of American currency from your world." 

The Digimon face faulted. All of humans sweat dropped - minus Miyako who was too busy to listen - that had no idea what Tentomon was talking about. 

"Hold on, you mean that diner that Jyou-san and my brother were stuck working in? You want to work with them?" 

"Yeah," Tentomon nodded. "Their restaurant makes a lot of money, and I could use it." 

Confused over Tentomon's request, Koushirou asked, "If you don't mind my asking, what do you need American currency for?" 

"To pay for my therapy!" 

Koushirou, Jyou, Hikari, Daisuke, and Takeru just stared at the bug, looks of bewilderment on their faces. "Therapy?" 

"Digimon have psychiatrists?" Hikari asked in surprise. 

"Um, I don't know how I can get you American currency, as I don't have much of a connection either, but I'll see what I can do about Digitamamon and Veggiemon letting you in on their business." 

"Thank you _very_ much, Koushirou-han," Tentomon responded, lots of joy and delight in his voice. 

"Um, yeah…" Koushirou said while scratching his head.   
*****   
RP: Is it just me, or was that entire scene irrelevant and pointless... 

Readers: It was irrelevant and pointless! -_- 

RP: Perfecto, as Yolei would say. I have achieved my goal of having more than one pointless scene in one chapter, and in also getting rid of my writer's block. Now I can continue. ^_^   
*****   
"Okay, I found the exact location of the base!" Miyako called to Koushirou. "I'm glad you tracked it to this area first. Now, a couple of clicks here…and boom, there you go! A map of the Digital World and," points to the screen, "here's where he should be, the blinking light." 

"That's great you guys, but how exactly are we going to get there?" Yamato asked. 

"We could evolve and carry you there," Gabumon proposed, "but it would still take over a day to get there from where we are because we would need a lot of energy to carry you all, then there's a matter of our eating…" 

"Now, if we could all fly, it'd take us less time, but by foot, Gabumon's right," Agumon said. "A day or two sounds about right to get to Palmon and Tentomon's area." 

"We don't have time for that," Jyou sighed. 

"Couldn't we just leave the Digital World and go back through another computer?" 

"That would still take a lot of time, Mimi, since there are a lot of us here, and that includes the Digimon." 

"Taichi-san is right, it would take a while," Takeru said with a slight frown. "We wouldn't have had this problem a few years ago. If only the Digital World and our world weren't synchronized in time." 

Everyone started to get pondering looks, trying to come up with a solution. Miyako kept staring at Izzy and then to his laptop. She then started to talk out aloud... 

"Hmm, I wonder if we could go to the Digital World while _in_ the Digital World." 

"Huh, what?" Daisuke asked, overhearing the girl. 

"Oh, I was just wondering if you could enter the Digital World while in it." 

"I don't get what you're asking," Takeru said. 

"Well, like Izumi-senpai said a while ago, we don't have to use the computers that are in our school's lab. All we need is a computer that's capable of opening up a gate for us to go through." 

"I think I get what you're saying, and that's true. My theory of opening a gate with computers other than the ones in your school's computer lab, which _has_ been proven. Are you thinking that we should use my laptop?" 

She nodded. "We could set the coordinates to that area with the laptop, and open up a gate that way!" 

"That's a very good theory you have there, Miyako-kun," Koushirou complimented with a proud smile. "Let us just hope that it works." 

"That was a great idea, Miyako-san!" Takeru complimented. 

"Yeah!" Sora agreed. "It's so simple; I'm surprised we didn't think of it." 

"I think some of Koushirou's ways have rubbed off on her," Mimi smiled. 

Miyako blushed from all of the compliments and said "Thank you." 

"Okay, I've brought up a gate. Go on and try to open it, Miyako-kun. Let's hope that this theory of yours works." 

She nodded and went over to Izzy's laptop. Izzy held it up while she took out her D-3 and held it towards the screen. She then called out, "Digital Gate...Open!" 

Miyako stood there with her fingers crossed, hoping that her idea would work. The gate then changed from closed to "open." Everyone cheered and hugged Miyako, minus Koushirou since he was holding the laptop and Jyou since hugging wasn't his thing. 

"That's my partner!!" 

"Way to go, Miyako!" Taichi roughly patted the girl on the back. 

"This is wonderful!" Hikari clapped. "You just saved us a lot of time!" 

"Um, yeah, thanks," Miyako gagged for air, "but you guys are choking me!!" 

Everyone turned loose of her. 

"Great, now that we have our mode of transportation, we need to figure out how we are going to approach this situation." 

"Exactly what I was thinking, Koushirou." Jyou took off his glasses and started to clean them with his shirttail. "We should just up and go, but what do we do once we get there?" 

"Destroy his base, of course!" Daisuke said ready and anxious to leave. 

"How about some of us go and some of us stay behind?" Takeru suggested. 

"I'm assuming that Koushirou is the one who stays behind," Jyou said as he put his glasses back on. 

"Of course!" Yamato said. "He's our best asset!" 

"Oh, leave me behind why don't you, but I was planning on staying back anyway. I don't really want to see Iori-kun for a while," Koushirou said, a distant tone to his voice. 

The boy was still a bit apprehensive, and didn't really want to see Iori again yet. Ken, no big deal, but he was secretly scared of Iori attacking him again. 

"Oh, and someone should stay here anyway, just in case something does wrong and has to navigate you all back or something." 

"You shouldn't stay here by yourself, Koushirou." 

"I'll be fine, Mimi-san." Koushirou then shyly asked, "Did you want to stay back with me?" 

"I could!" Miyako chimed in before Mimi could even take a breath to answer and agree to stay back. 

"Oh, if you insist," Mimi said after Miyako spoke up. Mimi's tone seemed to be filled with a slight disappointment, yet, at the same time, content. "You could stay with him. At least now I won't worry about him." 

"Yeah, we should let the computer geniuses stay here, in case something goes wrong," Daisuke said, hoping that it would allow them to leave sooner. 

"Wait, what about my Piyomon!!" 

"Hey, didn't we come across a program that tells one how to care for their Digimon?" Miyako asked the redhead. 

"Oh yeah, silly me! Gennai-san also upgraded the Digi-Analyzer, so now it doesn't just tell us what the Digimon is or their type, but it now tells us what to do if they are sick in some way, and other things like that. 

"This program also specializes in telling us about our particular Digimon and their evolutions, and what to expect at each of their stages since our Digimon are some of the few that can evolve without it being naturally since they have human partners." 

Izzy typed and brought up the program. He then typed in Piyomon and her main symptom, fatigue, and any other detail he found important enough to mention. A page then opened up, showing a photo of Piyomon and lot of text underneath it. 

"Hmm, according to this, Piyomon is just weak from battle, which was pretty obvious. Apparently, when a bird-type Digimon loses energy under unnatural circumstances while in their natural elemental setting, Piyomon's being sky, it has a really bad effect on them. 

"It also says that she has to find a way to restore her energy. Normally, sleeping it off does, but since she didn't reach that level naturally, that is also why she's having such a strange reaction. With a Digimon who's reached their child level naturally, the sleeping method would work. Piyomon really needs to restore her energy, and holding onto that form of hers isn't helping."   
*****   
RP: Okay, I made that up. I had to do something with her. ^^;   
*****   
"Wait, hold on a sec," Daisuke started, trying to make sense of what Koushirou was saying. "Are you saying that the reason Piyomon is so bad off is because she's remaining on her child (rookie) level?" 

He nodded. "Yeah, since she's a Chosen Child's Digimon partner, that really makes a difference. A regular Digimon can sleep it off and regenerate that way, since a Chosen's Digimon changes levels so much, it doesn't really have as much energy as say a Digimon who's reached that level naturally. I guess what this is saying is that Piyomon may can evolve to higher stages, but for each level, she isn't really all that strong. I bet none of our Digimon really are, with the exception of probably Tailmon since she's the only Digimon who evolved to her level naturally. 

"If Piyomon would go down one more level, or two, depending on how much energy she needs, she would restore her energy, like Tanemon and Motimon did." 

"I never knew you Digimon could do that!" Taichi said, quite impressed. 

"Neither did I, and _I'm_ a Digimon," Tailmon said. "Normally, when we run low on energy, we just end up devolving anyway. It's automatic for us. I never knew we could hold onto a form." 

"Piyomon, you have to devolve." 

"I hate walking around…as…Pyocomon (Yokomon)," Piyomon weakly uttered. 

"Stop being stubborn and do it! Holding on to your child-leveled form is what's making you feel so bad and weak!" 

"But---" 

"Just do it! I don't want to lose you! You are my best friend, Piyomon, and I hate seeing you sick!" 

Piyomon decided to let herself go down another level and was now Pyocomon. Sora picked her up and hugged her. 

"Doesn't that feel better?" Sora gently smiled to her. 

"Yeah, it does!" Pyocomon nodded. 

Sora then hugged Izzy. 

"Oh Koushirou, thank you so much! You're so wonderful!!" 

Izzy's face started to turn red some as he tried to breathe. 

"Um…need air here…" he coughed.   
*****   
"I don't know if he's blushing from the hug, or from Sora cutting off his air supply!" Jyou laughed to Yamato. 

"It looks like a combo of the both to me!" Yamato chuckled.   
*****   
"Oops, I'm sorry about that," Sora apologized bashfully, letting go of him. "I didn't mean to suffocate you." 

"No," he coughed and patted his chest, "problem." 

"Enough of our sitting around; let's get to that base!" 

"Yeah, Taichi-senpai is right!" Daisuke said, his fists bawled. "Are you all with us!" 

Everyone nodded. 

"Tentomon, I want you to stay here. I'm a little worried about you." 

"No way, Koushirou-han! I have to avenge my tree house!" 

"I rest my case…" 

"Hawkmon, you stay here too." 

"Okay, Miyako-san." 

"Okay, let's go everyone!" Takeru instructed. 

Since they had switched screens to look up Piyomon's symptoms, the gate had closed. Miyako took out her D-3 to open it again. 

"Digital Gate...Open!" 

After the gate opened, everyone, minus Miyako, Koushirou, and their Digimon, entered the gate, in hopes of destroying Ken's base and getting Iori back to normal... 


	16. The Discovery of Ichijouji's Base!

*Hi again. Sorry it took me a while to get this up. Actually, most of it was accidentally erased, so I had to go by memory and I have a rotten memory mind you. ^^; Well, as always, leave reviews and comments, I really appreciate them and it inspires me to write even more for you guys. ^_^ Now, I must say this so I won't get sued...I do not own any of these characters, or places, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda....* 

Part 16: The Discovery of Ichijouji's Base! 

When Ken got to the area where Iori was with Digmon, he noticed Iori was digging through the sand, along with Digmon. 

"Where is that damn thing," the boy muttered as he ferociously dug, tossing sand in all directions. 

"Iori-kun!" 

The young, dark-haired boy looked up, trying to figure out whom it was that had called him. 

"Who is there!" He then threatened, "I will have Digmon kill you if you do not identify yourself _right_ now!!" 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down now," a spiky-haired person wearing a cape and glasses waved his arms around after hopping off of his Airdramon. "Do you not recognize me?" He then gave his infamous, arrogant smirk. "You _should_ if you're under my control." 

The boy looked on, his eyes wide, and bowed down continuously. 

"Ichijouji-sama! I am sorry for speaking so harshly to you!" 

"I will forgive you this time; just make sure that it doesn't happen again!" 

"Hai, Ichijouji-sama!"   
****   
RP: Hai means, "yes." As for the -sama honorific, I am using it in the sense of it meaning "Master" or "Lord." You choose which you prefer, "Master Ichijouji," or "Lord Ichijouji"   
****   
"Oh, how I love obedience. I have him eating out of the palms of my hands!" Ken said to Wormmon with a smirk. He then walked over towards Iori. "So, what exactly is it are you looking for?" 

"I cannot find my D-3, sir. It seems to have disappeared." 

"It doesn't matter; you don't need it. Now, I want a report about those annoying kids." 

"Sir, Digmon and I did not defeat them, but we promise to do better next time." 

"We have some other business to attend to, and I want you to find them and destroy them and their Digimon!" 

"No sir, don't do that sir!" Wormmon gasped. "Please, do not kill the other Chosen Children and their Digimon partners!" 

"And why not?" Ken asked with no feeling. "All I have to do is hit restart if they are." 

His statement confused Wormmon. He didn't understand what he meant when he said, "All I have to do is hit restart." 

"But I don't understand, Ken-chan…" 

"It is all done in fun!" Iori smirked evilly. 

Iori went back to searching in the sand. 

"What are you doing!!" Ken demanded, annoyance in his voice. 

"I am looking for my D-3! I cannot part with it!" 

"That thing is useless now! You don't need it! You are under my control entirely and that D-3 has served its purpose! Your Digimon is now incredibly strong, and is under your control, thanks to that Digivice of yours." 

Iori got a slightly angered look, but decided to listen to him anyway. 

"Good, now let's go and find those kids. We will search all over this area, and this should help me." 

He took out a small device and studied it. 

"This should help me to locate them. It should pick up on Digivice signals that are nearby or within range. Now let's get going!" 

Iori nodded reluctantly and followed behind him with Digmon...   
****   
In no time at all, all of the children arrived in a woodsy-like area that wasn't familiar to most of them at all, minus Palmon whose area was pretty close by. She had an idea as to where she was. 

"Is this the right place?" Daisuke asked with uncertainty. "Is this really where Ichijouji's base is?" 

"We won't know until we find out," Taichi said. "Let's look around, guys!" 

"Here you go, oniichan," Hikari smiled up to her brother, handing him her D-Terminal. 

"Thanks," he said as he looked down at it. "According the directions Miyako and Koushirou gave Hikari, we go," he pointed to the right of him, "this way." 

The kids, along with their Digimon, followed Taichi who was leading. After a while, they ended up at the exact spot that Koushirou and Miyako had instructed them to go, but there was nothing there but more trees... 

"Hey, what gives! Where's the base!" Yamato asked. 

"You don't think Koushirou and Miyako were wrong, do you?" Gabumon questioned. 

"No way!" Pyocomon protested from Sora's arms. "They _never_ get stuff wrong." 

"Then maybe Taichi read the directions wrong." 

"No, I'm sure oniichan didn't read them wrong, Yamato-san," Hikari meekly spoke up, defending her older brother. "He wouldn't make a mistake like that. I know he wouldn't!" 

Daisuke frowned. 

"Great, just great! We end up at a dead end! It's probably another trap set up by Ichijouji!" the boy growled in annoyance. He then sighed as he sat down by a nearby tree, resting his head in the palms of his hands. "I hate the idea of giving up, but what can we do if we can't find his base?" 

The boy then leaned his back against the tree he was sitting by, falling back onto something. All of a sudden, the ground started to rumble and the ground started to move some. 

"Daisuke, what did you do!" 

"I don't know, V-mon!" the boy said in alarm as he stood up quickly. "I'm sorry, whatever it is! I didn't mean to---" 

"No wait, look," Tailmon interrupted, pointing. 

Something seemed to be coming up from under the ground. The trees seemed to sink into the ground, as the ground opened up, something rising from it. 

"Is that, the Digimon Kaiser's base?" Patamon asked while resting on top of Takeru's head. 

The "thing" that was emerging from the ground looked like a giant mansion. 

"Looks like it," Taichi uttered in amazement. 

"Wow, good job Daisuke-kun! You found his base!" 

The boy blushed a bit and put his hand behind his head, giving out a small, nervous laugh. "It was nothing, Hikari-chan." 

"Well, at least we found it," Sora said in relief. "Now we don't have to bother Koushirou-kun or Miyako-chan about our not being able to find it." 

"Okay, let's go in!" 

The goggle-headed boy was about to take off in a sprint, until Takeru stopped him by holding his shoulder. 

"Hey, let go of me! What are you doing!?!" 

"We can't just rush right in there! What if Ichijouji was in there?" 

"Oh yeah, I didn't think of that…" 

"Looks like we're going to need ourselves a plan," Mimi somberly stated. She was anxious to hurry up and get back to their hideout. 

"Well, some of us could go in, find the source of the problem and destroy it while some of us wait out here in case that Ichijouji guy shows up." 

"What makes you so sure that he isn't here, Jyou?" Gomamon asked. 

"He hasn't come after us since Daisuke-kun found the switch to reveal his base, has he?" 

"Hey yeah, that's right!" 

"Now, as I was saying, some of us should go in and destroy whatever that source is, while some of us stay out here to, I guess, re-hide his base." 

"I get it! That way, if he does come back, it'll look as if nobody had been here!" Taichi exclaimed. 

"Exactly!" Jyou nodded. 

"Good plan, Jyou-san!" Takeru complimented. 

"But who stays and who goes?" Sora asked. 

"Hikari-chan, Takeru-kun, and Daisuke-kun should go, of course, since their Digimon can armor evolve." 

"Good thinking, Mimi." 

"Thank you Taichi!" the girl smiled. 

"I'll go along with them," Jyou decided. "I don't really want to hang out here. Besides, there could be some stuff in there of great importance." 

"I don't want to stay out here either. It's kind of warm out, and I'm sure that the inside of that place is air-conditioned," Mimi said while fanning herself. "I couldn't see it not being air conditioned, but if it isn't, I'm coming right back out here!" 

"All of this heat isn't too good for my hair!" Yamato stated, his arms crossed. "The gel is melting right out of it." 

"Since I can't do much with Pyocomon since she still needs to rest, I'll just stay out here and stand guard." 

"Agumon and I could stay with her!" Taichi volunteered. He then turned to Sora. "It wouldn't be too much fun if you stayed out here by yourself." 

Sora smiled at Taichi, he always thought of others. 

"Suit yourself," Yamato shrugged. 

"Let's go, everyone!" Tailmon instructed. 

"Right!" the other Digimon nodded. 

"Wait a minute, guys." 

"What's the matter, Daisuke?" Taichi asked. 

"Sora-san doesn't have a D-Terminal to communicate through and neither does Taichi-senpai. Do you guys want to borrow mine?" 

"Aww, Daisuke-kun, that's very considerate of you, but what if you need to have V-mon armor evolve?" Sora asked. "Don't you need your D-Terminal with you?" 

He shook his head. "I don't think so, but don't worry about it! We'll manage!" He turned to Takeru and Hikari. "Right!" 

"Right!!" the two nodded. 

"Okay, but you guys be careful," Taichi said, looking right at Hikari. 

"And e-mail us when you need us to let you out!" Sora added. 

They all nodded... 

"And those who don't come back alive will be in big trouble!" 

They all laughed at Mimi's comment and then took off on their assigned tasks. After the kids got into the building safely, Tai pressed the button to hide the base again...   
****   
Back to the desert... 

"I just don't understand how a bunch of kids could disappear in the middle of a desert!!" Ken screamed as he and Iori scouted the area, the only thing they could see being sand and a few scattered pyramids. 

"Neither do I, sir, but if I had my Digivice, I could---" 

"Will you shut up about that stupid Digivice!" Ken snapped at Iori stopping at one of the pyramids to bask in the shade. "Those kids are more important right now!" 

"_Yes_ sir," Iori huffed out in annoyance. 

Ken noticed the annoyance and irritable way Iori was reacting and talking. 

"You know what, why don't you just go back to the base. They just may try and search for it." 

"Yes sir," Iori bowed. 

"Since you are under my control and, in a way, I programmed you, you should be able to find the switch to reveal my base and find your way to it with no problems at all. Take Airdramon and MegaSeadramon back with you. Wormmon and I will be fine on our own." 

"Right." Iori stopped bowing and turned to Digmon. "Let's go, Digmon!" 

"All right, Iori!" 

With that, the two, along with Airdramon and MegaSeadramon took off, leaving Ken and Wormmon behind. 

"Why did you let him leave?" Wormmon asked. "What if he gets hurt going back the base or something?" 

"Because he is expendable, that's why! He's served his purpose, pretty much." 

"His purpose?" 

"Yeah, I just needed him to get the others here so I could dispose of them." He then scoffed, "I don't care what happens to that little freak with the bad bowl haircut!" 

"If you say so," Wormmon sighed. 

"Okay, now let's go. I'm picking up on something on this little tracker device I made, meaning some of those brats are nearby! C'mon!!" 

"Yes, Ken-chan." 

The two left, but nearby was a very angered and disturbed little boy with a "bad bowl haircut," who had told Airdramon and MegaSeadramon to go on ahead of him since he wanted to ask his "master" something. ::Insert dramatic music here:: lol 

"I'm expendable, am I? What happens to me isn't important, is it?" The boy started to growl in pure anger and malevolence as he shook, glaring evilly after Ken. "I'll show him! I'll get him back for that! He's worse than my so-called friends!" 

"Do you want me to attack him for you, Iori?" 

"No, Digmon; let him go. I'm going back to the base like he requested of me, but when he returns, he'll get what's coming to him! I have all the knowledge I need to run that place. That was his gravest, and biggest mistake, allowing me to obtain such information, and allowing me to have the knowledge of how everything is run in his base! Let's go, Digmon!" 

The metallic, bug-like Digimon nodded and obeyed and they headed back towards Ken's base in the forest... 


	17. The Case of the Missing Computer Nerds!

*Yahoo! I got rid of my block! Just bear with me folks. I would've had this up sooner, but ff.net's been down as you all know. Well, I hope to finish this soon and I hope it doesn't end up _too_ long. As always, I do not own any of these characters, places, or Digimon normally associated with the show, games, mangas, etc* 

Part 17: The Case of the Missing Computer Nerds! 

"Wow, this place is huge!" Daisuke exclaimed after they had entered the base. 

"How will we know where to go?" Patamon asked.   
****   
RP: (Snickers) He should just use his bat pig radar. 

Everyone else snickers. 

Patamon: (Growling) FOR THE LAST TIME, I AM _NOT_ A PIG!! 

RP: (Snickering) I just can't help it... 

Patamon: Oh yeah...Patamon, devolve...Tokomon!! 

Tokomon starts to chase RP trying to chomp at her legs with those deadly teeth. Everyone sweat drops from the scene. 

RP: (Still running in fear from the ferocious choppers) C'mon...stop! I'm sorry!! (Hides behind Jyou, on purpose ~_^, who sighs at how RP is acting) 

Mimi: Hmm, I never knew the narrator, er, writer was supposed to make actual appearances in her own fics... 

Tokomon: (Chomping at her) I'll stop only if you promise to stop referring to me as hog, pig, bat-pig, bat-hamster, bat-pikachu, pika-bat, anything "pika" related in general... 

RP: (Still hiding) Okay...okay...I'm sorry! I won't tease you about being a pig anymore! 

Tokomon: (Showing his teeth) Are you sure.... 

RP: (Taking out a script which had a bunch of pig jokes) See, these are all of the jokes I was planning on using for the remainder of this fic... 

Jyou: (Surprised tone) That thing is huge!! It looks like two telephone books put together!! 

Takeru: When will people learn not to tease Patamon about his pig problem... 

Tokomon: (Turning to Takeru) Don't you test me, TK! I do _not_ have a pig problem!! 

Takeru: (Nervous sweat drop) Sorry... 

RP: See Tokomon, I'm going to tear up these scripts. I'm going to destroy them, in fact! (Calling out) Tentomon, I need your help!! 

Tentomon flies in. 

Tentomon: Why am I here? I'm supposed to be protecting Koushirou-han and Miyako-han from the--- 

RP: (Takes out a writing pad and a pen and writes that some tape has covered his mouth so that he couldn't finish talking) 

Tentomon: HEY! 

RP: Tentomon, you always talk too much. Don't tell what's going to happen to Koushirou and Miyako! I just wanted you to use your "Super Shocker" to destroy this script. 

Tentomon: (Angered/muffled tone) Why should I! 

RP: Just do it or you'll get no more airtime! 

Tentomon: (Muffled tone) NO WAY!! (Zaps the script into digital dust) Super Shocker!! 

RP: (Evil smirk) He's such a ham...(getting defensive)...I'm not referring to you, Tokomon!! 

Tokomon: Good. Tokomon shinka...Patamon!! 

RP: Okay, you can go now, Tentomon. 

Tentomon gives the narrator an annoyed look and flies off. 

RP: You can ask Izzy to take the tape off for you, now let's continue on with this fic. ^_^   
****   
"Calm down you guys, I'm sure we'll figure out which way to go." 

"Couldn't we just wander around until we find it, niisan?" 

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Daisuke retorted. 

"It's not like we have much of a choice," Takeru said. 

"I agree with Daisuke-kun," Hikari spoke up. "We probably shouldn't wander around. We should come up with some kind of a plan." 

"Well, Jyou-senpai, what do you have in mind?" Mimi asked, looking up at the tall, blue-haired boy. 

"Why me?" Jyou asked while pointing to himself. 

"Face it," Yamato started, "you're the one who comes up with the good ideas and most logical plans, other than Koushirou." 

Jyou stood there, trying his best to come up with an idea to their problem. 

"I sure wish I had some candy." 

"Why?" Patamon asked. "To use it as bait to get the Digimon Kaiser to come out if he is here?" 

"Not a bad idea," Yamato nodded. 

"No, I just want some candy," Gabumon goofily grinned, scratching the back of his head. "I'm hungry." 

Everyone, minus Jyou, face-faulted from Gabumon's irrelevant statement. 

"Hey Jyou," Gomamon called after picking himself up, "do you have an idea yet?" 

He shook his head. "Nope, I think we should just wander around, like Takeru-kun said, until we find a room that has what we're looking for…even though we don't know what that is yet." 

"Maybe we should split up and go our own separate ways and search every room, and then contact the other group when we find whatever it is we're looking for." 

"I'm with Mimi," Yamato responded. "That would be a good idea since we have a couple of paths to choose from." 

"Splitting up doesn't sound so bad," Jyou agreed. 

Daisuke and Hikari agreed as well, and so did the Digimon, but TK didn't like the idea... 

"No, we should all stay together!!" 

"What's the matter with you?" Yamato asked, wondering why his brother was so uptight. 

"I don't think we should split up. What if one of us doesn't come back!" the young blonde protested. 'What if Ichijouji somehow gets another one of us to turn on our friends? What if the same thing that happened to Hikari-chan, happens again?' 

"Takeru, we'll be fine," Patamon said, giving his partner an assuring smile. "Just you wait and see." 

"No!" the boy yelled out. "We should _not_ split up! People get lost that way!!" 

"Calm down, baby bro." 

"What's wrong?" Daisuke asked, figuring that the boy had finally lost it. 

"I just don't think splitting up is such a good idea," he explained, his head lowered. 'I don't want to be responsible for anyone else getting hurt, or _almost_ getting hurt, like with Iori-kun and Hikari-chan.' 

"If you'd like, I'll split up with you if you're that against being by yourself," Hikari offered, a gentle, light tone to her voice. 

The goggle boy shook his head in annoyance. He wasn't about to let Hikari and Takeru be alone if he had anything to say about it. 

"That wouldn't be a good idea. You shouldn't split up with Takeru." 

"Why shouldn't I split up with her, Daisuke?" 

"Because, um, not all of us have D-Terminals. If we're going to split up, each group should have a D-Terminal to communicate with, and you two are the only ones with them." 

"Good point, Daisuke-kun. I was thinking about going off in three groups of two to look for the source, but it seems that we're going to split up into two groups of three. Let's see, Yamato, Takeru-kun, and I will take the path on the right, and Mimi-kun, Hikari, and Daisuke-kun will go left." 

Nobody objected to Jyou's suggestion and said, "okay," even though Takeru was still a bit skeptical about splitting up since he had such a bad feeling about it...   
****   
Outside of Ichijouji's base… 

"It's boring out here, Taichi!" a certain, high-pitched voiced orange reptile complained. "Couldn't we go in with the others?" 

"No Agumon! We can't leave Sora and Pyocomon out here by themselves!" 

"I guess," Agumon muttered as he stood up from underneath the tree that they all were under. "I'm going to find me something to eat." 

"Wait, I want to come too!" Pyocomon bounced. 

"Yeah, maybe if Pyocomon eats something, she'll be able to get her strength back!" 

"Yep, Taichi, and since we're in this area, we should find a lot of tropical fruit!" 

Agumon, along with the bouncing onion, took off to find some food, leaving Sora and Taichi by themselves. Taichi smiled as he waved the two off. He then turned in Sora's direction and noticed that she was pretty quiet. She seemed a bit upset as well. 

"Sora?" 

She jerked her head up when her named was called and said, "Huh." 

"Is something wrong?" 

"No, not really." 

Tai sat down next to her. She was sitting under the tree where Daisuke had found the switch. 

"You don't look okay. You've been quiet the entire time Agumon and I have been out here." 

"I guess I'm thinking about all that's happened so far today." 

"Yeah, depressing, isn't it? Poor Iori." 

"It's so hard to believe that he was so nice, now he's a killing machine!" 

"Don't say that! He is _not_ a killing machine!" 

"What else would you call it, Taichi! He doesn't care what happens to us now!" She held her head down, and lowered her voice some, sadness and grief in her voice. "He didn't even care what could've happened to Piyomon and me." 

"Sora..." 

"I could've died today, Taichi, and he didn't care at all! Since this is all Ichijouji's fault, what kind of a person is he? Is he as uncaring as the possessed Iori-kun? Does he have no love for anyone? Does he have no remorse for what he's doing, for what he's done to poor Iori-kun?" She then looked over at Taichi. "Is he _really_ that cold and heartless?" 

"Who knows what's going through that kid's mind," Taichi sighed, "but you shouldn't get yourself upset over it." 

"I know, but I still can't help bet feel like I'm responsible." 

"You? Responsible? You're nowhere _near_ responsible for what's happened!!" 

"Well, we should've taken the Digimon Kaiser more seriously." 

"We _all_ should've. We didn't know what he was capable of." 

She lowered her head again. "I still don't see how he could turn someone against his friends the way he did with Iori-kun. He almost _killed_ Piyomon and me! If it weren't for you and Palmon, we would've---" 

"Quit talking like that, Sora. You weren't killed, and that's all that matters!" 

The girl turned to Tai and said "thank you." Tai said "you're welcome" and stared at Sora. The two then started to inch closer and closer to each other. They were just about to kiss... 

"Taichi! Taichi!" they heard a squeaky voice call. 

The two broke away from their "almost" kiss, startled saying, "What, what!" 

They turned to see what it was. It was Agumon with Piyomon flying right behind him. Sora got away from Taichi and turned her attention towards Piyomon. 

"Pi-pi-yomon," Sora nervously stammered. "You got your strength back." 

"Yeah, I ate a lot of fruit that Agumon found." 

"But why were you in such a hurry?" Taichi asked. 

"We have to hide!" Agumon said, panic in his voice while trying to urge Sora and Taichi to get up. 

"Is it the Digimon Kaiser?" Taichi asked. 

"No, something _much_ worse!!" Piyomon answered, the same panicky voice as Agumon. 

"Iori and Digmon!" the two said together. 

"What!!" Sora nearly screamed out. 

"He's coming this way!" Piyomon flapped. 

"We better hide and see what he's up to." 

"Right, Taichi!" the rest of them nodded. 

The four hid behind some bushes and saw an annoyed Iori muttering incoherently under his breath. 

"What in the world do you think he could be doing over here?" Sora asked in a whisper. 

Taichi shrugged and continued to watch. 

"Where's that blasted switch," they heard Iori mutter. 

"Oh no!" Taichi exclaimed in a whisper. "He knows about the Kaiser's base!" 

Sora took out the D-Terminal that Daisuke had given her. 

"Sora, what are you doing?" 

"We have to warn the others, Taichi!" 

The girl started to send a message to the others who were inside of the base. About half way through the short message, the D-Terminal gave off a small, blue glow and beeped, which alerted Iori. 

"What was that?" 

Sora, Tai, Piyomon, and Agumon remained still, hoping that Iori would dismiss the sound he heard, but he didn't. He came in their direction, along with Digmon. 

"I think it came from over in this direction," Digmon pointed. 

"Don't find us, don't find us, don't find us, don't find us," Sora prayed, her heart beating faster than it ever had before. 

Iori and Digmon gave up, eventually. Actually, Iori grew tired of looking and found the switch to enter the base. He then entered with Digmon. 

"I hope the others got your message," Taichi said, relieved that Iori had gone in. 

"Should we tell Koushirou and Miyako about this?" Piyomon asked. 

"Definitely!" Taichi nodded. "Those two have a map of his base, so they could easily navigate for the others." 

"It's getting kind of dangerous around here, Taichi," Agumon noted. "We better go back to where Tentomon and the others are." 

After the door closed behind Iori, Sora and Taichi, along with their Digimon, made a run for the gate they had come through. When they got there, they had left the gate open to make a fast get-a-way in case something was to go wrong. 

"Wait, we can't take this D-terminal with us, Daisuke-kun might need it." 

"Well, we can't give it back to him now, Sora. Let's just worry about that later and get in touch with Koushirou and Miyako." 

Sora kept quiet as Taichi looked through the TV screen. What he saw shocked him. 

"What's wrong, Taichi?" 

"Oh no, what happened!" Taichi shouted out, ignoring his Digimon's question, too stunned to actually reply. 

The other three looked to see what had Tai so upset. What he saw was a mess; trees knocked over and such. It looked as if the place had been rampaged. 

"Oh no!!" Sora gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth. 

"We're going through, Sora!" 

"But---" 

The boy didn't listen and grabbed Sora's hand and the both of them, along with their Digimon, went through the gate and ended up right back where they were earlier. 

"Wha-wha-what happened? Where are Koushirou-kun and Miyako-chan?" Sora uttered as she saw the once, well-hidden area. "Something must have gone wrong if the laptop was left behind!" 

"Look!" Taichi pointed. 

Sora and the others looked to where Tai had pointed. Someone had broken through the barrier. 

"Oh no, they must were attacked!" Piyomon frowned. 

"But where are they?" Agumon asked. "Iori didn't have them." 

"Then Ichijouji must have them!" Taichi shook with anger, his right fist bawled. "We haven't encountered him _once_ since we've been here!" 

"At this rate, we'll never get Iori-kun back to normal!" 

"No, Sora, don't think like that! We'll get them back, and Iori back to normal too!" 

"But Taichi, what do we do?" Agumon asked. 

"Pray that the others are okay, and that Iori-kun doesn't catch them," Sora replied. 

"Hey guys, look what I found!" Piyomon pointed towards an object on the ground, flying towards it. She then backed away from it since it started to drain her of her energy. 

"Hey, it is Iori's D-3!" Taichi said. 

"Maybe we can find Miyako-chan and Koushirou-kun through it." 

Sora picked up the D-3 and changed the option to "detect." She then saw a whole bunch of different lights blinking on it. 

Taichi looked over her shoulder to see what the D-3 had picked up on. "I see the others, they're still at Ichijouji's base, but there's no sign of Miyako or Koushirou." 

"We're helpless," Sora sighed. 

"Should we tell the others, Taichi?" Agumon asked. 

"No, it would just ruin their concentration. Let them concentrate on their task first. Ours is to go find Koushirou and Miyako!" 

"Taichi is right. We must go find Koushirou-kun and Miyako-chan!" 

"Let's go!" Taichi picked up Koushirou's laptop and strapped it onto his back in its case and Sora gave him Iori's D-3. "Maybe we'll find a clue to their where a bouts on this, or something." 

The two, along with their Digimon left the once well-hidden area, and went off in search of their two, computer oriented buddies… 


	18. The Dark Orb!

*Hey again everyone. I guess you all are wondering if this is going to turn out to be a Kenyako, Kouyako, Taiora, Taito, Mishirou, Joumi, Daikari, Takari, or what_ever_. Well, I dunno. Read on to find out. :-p lol The scene where TK didn't want to be by himself and Kari offered to go with him was intended to be a "friendship" thing for those of you that were interpreting it as Takari. Remember, Kari is a caring person. If it were _Matt_ that was upset, she probably would've done the same thing. Same goes with any of the other characters. Now TK is a different story when it comes to that, same with Daisuke. ~_^ I normally always leave Kari impartial when it comes to Takeru and Daisuke since I like both pairings and have them indirectly fighting over her. I meant to upload this earlier, but ff.net is still acting a bit weird on me. ^^' Well, thank you for the reviews everyone and as always, I do _not_ own any of these characters or places associated with the show, manga, games, etc* 

Part 18: The Dark Orb! 

Sora: Last time, we all came up with a plan to go to Ichijouji's base and destroy whatever it is that's controlling Iori's "transparent dark rings," but to our surprise, Iori had returned to the base to not only destroy us, but to get rid of Ken as well due to him overhearing him talking with Wormmon about how "expendable" he was. Taichi and I sent the others an email warning them of Iori's arrival and almost got ourselves caught in the process. Luckily, we got away from Iori and went back to our hideout to let Miyako and Koushirou in on what's going on, but when we got there, we found the place _totally_ trashed and those two were nowhere to be found along with Hawkmon and Tentomon and the only things we found were Izzy's Laptop and Iori's Digivice. Taichi and me, along with our Digimon, are now searching for them. Man, what _else_ could possibly go wrong! 

Insert 02 Intro here...preferably the original one used for the first half of 02 since it's a heck of a lot better than the one they use here. How can you _not_ enjoy the scene where Iori is riding in Submarimon and Daisuke riding on Lighdramon and Shurimon devolving to Hawkmon and then armor evolving to Holsmon with the song Target~Akai Shougeki~ playing in the background.> 

Daisuke & V-mon/Hikari & Tailmon/Mimi & Palmon Title: The Dark Orb! 

Takeru walked along, ahead of Jyou and Matt, incomprehensibly muttering to himself. 

"What's wrong with you now?" Yamato asked. 

"Nothing!" 

"This is why I split us up this way since Takeru-kun seemed a bit edgy, and since you're his brother, that maybe you can figure him out." 

Yamato shrugged. "He hated splitting up, that's about it." 

"Patamon, you're his best friend, any idea why he's so upset and edgy," Jyou asked the flying mammal beside him. 

"I don't know. He just hates being split up from Hikari." 

After hearing what the small, mammal-like Digimon had said, Takeru abruptly stopped and turned to his partner, who gulped nervously. 

"Patamon, stop telling lies!" 

Yamato put his hand on his younger brother's shoulder and gave him a smile. "Takeru, if you have a crush on Hikari, just admit it and stop acting all crabby about it." 

"I-I-I don't like her like that!" 

"That didn't sound too convincing," Yamato smirked, giving him a knowing look. 

"It's true!" Takeru retorted. "I don't like her that way!" 

"You're blushing," Yamato teased. 

"I am not!!" the boy retorted, his face as red as can be over the accusation. 

"You know, Takeru, you should try asking her out before it's too late." 

"Um, what's that up ahead," Takeru pointed, trying to get the attention off of himself and his possibly having a romantic interest for his childhood friend. "It looks like a room." 

"Let's go check it out," Jyou suggested. 

The three boys went towards the room. When they opened the door, they saw it had a bunch of gadgets and computers in it. 

"What _is_ all this stuff?" Yamato asked. 

"A bunch of stuff we probably _shouldn't_ mess with," Gabumon cautioned. 

"We have to get rid of whatever it is that's powering those rings that Iori-kun has on his wrists," Takeru said. "That's the first part of this so-called 'prophecy,' pretty much. Destroy the source, and we'll be halfway there of getting him back to normal." 

"I know, but what if this isn't the source that we are looking for," Gabumon asked. 

"Then we run as fast as we can after we crash every single computer in this room, literally!" 

"Yeah!" both Takeru and Patamon said in agreement with Gomamon. 

"I don't know you guys, what if this _isn't_ the source that we're looking for, like Gabumon said. We could set off some kind of an alarm and not only get us in trouble, but the others in Mimi's group as well!" Jyou said. 

"We take our chances, Jyou-san!" Takeru said. 

"I'm with them, Jyou," Yamato said. 

"It seems like we're outvoted, Jyou." 

"Seems like it, Gabumon." 

"C'mon, it's time to trash this place!" Patamon said with a dark smile. 

"Yeah!" Gomamon and Takeru cheered. 

"Wait," Jyou protested, "let's at least check these computers out." 

"Do you know anything about computers?" Yamato asked, giving the older boy a quizzical look. 

"Nah, he may be smart when it comes to school, but he's a moron when it comes to computers." 

Jyou started to choke and shake Gomamon like he did when he and Gomamon were separted from the others, due to Devimon, and Jyou started to shake Gomamon after he had eaten all of their food. "What'd you say about me!" 

"You sure are strong when you're being insulted." 

"Calm down, Jyou," Yamato sweat dropped. 

Jyou put the water Digimon down, and they all decided to check out the computers. All of the computers had lots of files on them that none of them could really figure out. 

"I can't figure this stuff out, can you?" Takeru asked. 

Yamato, Gomamon, and Patamon shook their heads. "Nope." 

"Too bad all of this stuff is password protected," Jyou muttered. "We need a hacker. Too bad Koushirou isn't here." 

"Let's destroy it!" Takeru cracked his knuckles. 

"Yeah, let's destroy it!" everyone else agreed, minus Gabumon and Jyou whom of which were sweat dropping at the scene of their friends who seemed anxiously destructive. 

"I still have this strange feeling that we're going to regret this," Jyou trailed off. 

"Boom Bubble, Pah!" 

"Marching Fishes!" 

"Don't just stand there, Gabumon, help them out!" 

"Okay, Yamato, okay. Bluuuuuuuuue Blaster, hah!" 

After the many attacks from the Digimon, they managed to destroy all of the computers in the room. 

"I still have this odd feeling that there was something on those computers that could've been beneficial to us," Jyou muttered. 

"You worry to much, Jyou-san." 

"No I don't!" Jyou retorted to Takeru. "I'm just cautious." 

"We should e-mail the others." 

"Right, niisan," Takeru nodded, taking out his D-Terminal. "I'll e-mail Hikari-chan right now." 

The boy tried e-mailing the other group, but it wouldn't work. 

"What's wrong, Takeru?" Patamon asked, noticing Takeru's look of perplexity. 

"The email won't go through. It won't let me send it!" 

"Oh no!" Yamato smacked his forehead. "Gennai told us when we were back in _our_ world that we couldn't e-mail you because of all of this stuff the Digimon Kaiser was doing, so of _course_ we wouldn't be able to send out an email if we're right here in his base!" 

"We better go and find the others quickly!" 

The others agreed with Gabumon's suggestion and left the room, leaving TK behind who was deep in thought. 

'I _knew_ something would go wrong if we split up!' the boy inwardly scolded. "I just _knew_ it!" 

Patamon, noticing their group was a human short, flew back to Takeru. "C'mon Takeru!" 

"Takeru, stop standing there! Let's go!" 

Yamato ran back and pulled his brother, who started to run along with them, muttering, "It's my fault."   
****   
In another part of the base… 

"This is place is even bigger than what it seemed to be earlier!" Daisuke exclaimed. "It seems like we've been walking down this path for a long time." 

"Yeah, it does." 

"Don't worry, Mimi, we'll find that room," Palmon responded in her same, perky fashion. 

They walked a bit further. 

"I hope we get Iori back to normal soon." 

"So do I, Daisuke-kun," Hikari said with a sad look upon her face. "I hate the fact that he's like this." 

"I promise you, Hikari-chan, I promise everyone, that I'll get him back to normal even if it means sacrificing myself and going along in his place to do it!" 

Kari stared at the goggle wearing boy admiringly, and smiled. 'He sure is caring and he's determined to get Iori-kun back to normal. More than me even, but he's always been that way. He always put others before himself. Sure he may rush right into things, but he always means well.' 

"Hey guys, look up there!" Mimi pointed. 

The group came to a room filled with different monitors. 

"Look, each monitor shows a different area of the Digital World!" Tailmon announced. 

"I wonder why this room is so dark," Mimi thought out aloud. 

"At least we're getting a little bit of light from the monitors." 

"Yeah, I guess, Palmon," Mimi commented. 

"Let's look around and see if we can find anything," Daisuke recommended. 

"Yeah, like a light switch," V-mon muttered. 

Everyone nodded in agreement and went off in separate directions and searched the strange room. 

Over in one area with a strange looking computer, stood Mimi and Palmon... 

"Do you think this could be what we're looking for, Palmon?" 

"I don't know, Mimi. A computer's just a computer, isn't it?" 

Mimi laughed a bit. "Don't let Koushirou hear you say something like that." 

"I wonder what all of these different buttons are for." 

"It's just a typical, transparent keyboard." She then shook her head. "Strange, since when are computer keyboards transparent…" 

Both shrugged. They then heard a familiar, yet monotone voice...   
****   
"Hey, Daisuke, look!" V-mon pointed. 

"It's a mini Dark Tower!" 

"Agumon and the others said that Wormmon had one!" V-mon went over to the small object, nearly passing out in the process. 

"V-mon!" 

"I'm fine," V-mon said while stepping back, still feeling slightly woozy. "I just feel a bit weak since I went near it, just like with Iori's D-3." 

"I wonder if this has anything to do with what's going on with Iori." 

The cute, blue colored Digimon shrugged. 

Daisuke picked up the mini Dark Tower. "Well, I'm going to make sure that this thing doesn't cause any more trouble!" With that, the boy broke the small object in half and tossed it aside. "There!" 

"Wow, I feel much better since you did that!" He gave Daisuke the victory sign. 

"Glad to help," he smiled. 

"Do you think that was the source we were looking for, Daisuke?" 

"I have this strange feeling that it wasn't." 

V-mon and Daisuke then heard a familiar, yet monotone voice, which was coming from Hikari's direction…   
****   
"Are you sure it's not right here?" a monotone voice responded. 

…. 

"Okay, I understand." 

.... 

"So where do I go if it's not where I am searching?"   
.... 

"But she would've seen it since she was there." 

.... 

"I guess. It must be very well hidden if they missed the key." 

"Hikari, who are you talking to?" Tailmon asked, looking up at her human partner. 

The girl shook her head, and spoke normally. 

"You mean you don't hear the voice?" she asked in surprise. 

"What voice?" 

Mimi and Daisuke came up and asked what was going on, but they didn't get the chance to since Kari started to talk to nobody again. 

"It will take all of our Digimon here to get rid of the source?" the girl asked, looking up into the air, speaking in the same monotone voice that she had earlier. 

…. 

"But Palmon can't evolve here…" 

…. 

"Daisuke-kun is the key to her evolution? I don't understand." 

"Hikari-chan, um, who are you talking to?" the goggle boy asked. 

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Tailmon said, just as confused as everyone else to Hikari's behavior. 

"So that's the voice we were hearing, Hikari's," V-mon said. 

"I remember when this happened before," Mimi recalled, thinking back. "She became possessed and told all of us about how and why we were chosen. The only thing missing is her infamous glow." 

The girl then started to glow and started to act as if she were in a trance. 

"There she glows!" 

:A nightclub scene appears with Gomamon on the drums where he does the rim shot thing for the bad joke Mimi had just delivered: ^^': 

"I know where to go, follow me," Hikari instructed in a robotic-like manner. 

The girl walked over to a familiar area, the one Mimi had just come from. 

"Palmon and I were just here, and we didn't see anything." 

Hikari put her hand on the transparent keyboard, her glow brightening, and pushed a key that both Mimi and Palmon had overlooked since the key was pretty much invisible. Due to Hikari's bright light, the key really stood out. 

After she pushed the key, a strange looking black orb emerged from a trap door behind them. Hikari then walked over towards the orb, still in her trance, and glowing that same pinkish glimmer of hers. She took out her D-3, and still spoke as if she wasn't herself currently. 

"Digimental Up!" 

"Tailmon, armor shinka…Hohoemi no Hikari, Nefertimon!"   
*****   
RP: That translates to, "Tailmon, armor evolve...Nefertimon, the light of smiles!"   
*****   
"Hikari's light is rejuvenating me, even though that strange looking orb is filled with dark, negative energy; the same that the Dark Towers seem to be formed from!" 

"Does this mean what I _think_ it means Palmon!" 

"Yes it does, Mimi! It means that I can evolve!!" 

"Kakoii!" Mimi squealed. 

"Palmon, shinka...Togemon!" 

"It's a good thing this room is big!" Daisuke noted, staring up at the cactus that stood before him. 

"Yeah, we'd all be squished right now if it wasn't," Mimi nodded. 

Hikari, who still seemed to be sleepwalking, turned to face Daisuke. 

"Daisuke-kun, we could use more of your help. You already helped Palmon to evolve, but we can use V-mon's help now to destroy that Dark Orb that is the source of the Dark Rings' power that Iori-kun is wearing." 

"Um, okay," Daisuke scratched his head in confusion. "How about it, V-mon? We could use some of Fladramon's powers right now." 

"I'm ready, Daisuke!" 

"Okay…Digimental Up!" 

The Digimon tried armor evolving to Fladramon, but it didn't work. 

"Hey, why can't I evolve!" 

"What's wrong, V-mon? You've never had trouble armor evolving before." 

"I don't know." 

'I wonder if it's because I don't have my D-Terminal with me...' 

"What do we do?" Mimi asked. 

"I don't know! We need Fladramon!" Daisuke slightly panicked. 

The boy got frustrated and ran to the orb and tried to pick it up, but it shocked him badly. Hikari just stood there; remaining in her trance like state while Mimi helped him up. 

"That was a foolish thing to do, young one," Hikari stated, no feeling in her voice. 

"We have to get Iori back! We have to destroy that thing, and the only way to do that is by breaking it! V-mon can't evolve, and I'd do anything to get Iori back to normal!" 

"Without some sort of energy, he can't evolve!" 

Daisuke, who was still sitting, started to pound his fist against the floor in frustration. 

"I'd give up mine to help him evolve so that we can help Iori!" 

Right at that moment, Daisuke's D-3 started to glow in a bluish color. Daisuke held up his D-3 again. 

"V-mon, try armor evolving again!" 

The Digi nodded and obeyed and tried armor evolving to Fladramon, but it just wouldn't work. 

"Why can't I evolve!" the Digimon shouted out. 

"This is strange," Togemon said. 

"Do you feel sick, V-mon?" Daisuke asked. 

"No. I feel fine, and energized." 

The bluish glow from the Digivice started to dim a bit since V-mon started arguing. 

"No, we're going to get you to evolve!" He then muttered, "If I could only give you some of my energy…" 

The D-3's bluish glow started to grow bright again. 

"You and V-mon have a strong bond," Hikari stated somberly. "You two are true friends to the end." 

"You know, that bluish color looks like the same bluish color from the Digimental of Friendship," Mimi noted. 

"That's it!" Daisuke turned to V-mon, his D-3 up. "Try evolving again, only this time, try to evolve to Lighdramon!" 

V-mon nodded and did so. To his surprise, it worked. 

"V-mon, armor shinka...Todoroku yuujou, Lighdramon!"   
*****   
RP: That translates to, "Lighdramon, rumbling with Friendship!"   
*****   
"Now, all three of you attack together," Hikari instructed. 

"Curse of the Queen!" Nefertimon called as the beams from her crown hit the sphere. 

"I think it's time for a bit of my Needle Spray, hoooh!!" Togemon's voice echoed, her prickly needles shooting at the orb. 

"Blue Thunder!" Lighdramon called as a wave of blue electricity came from his horn. 

Due to all of the attacks, the black orb was successfully destroyed. It shattered into thousands of small pieces and then disintegrated into dust…   
****   
Time the orb was destroyed Iori fell down, holding his head in pain. 

"Iori, what's wrong!" Digmon asked in alarm. 

Iori shook his head and looked up at the bug-like Digimon. "Digmon, what is going on? Where are we?" he asked, his once harsh voice, back to its normal, gentle one. 

"We are in the Digimon Kaiser's base," Digmon reminded him. "We are plotting against the others, and plan on killing the Kaiser." 

Iori gave the Digimon a look of confusion, trying to make sense of what he was telling him. 

"Kill? Digimon Kaiser's base? Why would I do that, and why am I here in the Digimon Kaiser's base? Where are Miyako-san and the others?" 

Before Digmon could answer, the boy held his head again in pain and his eyes glowed red. He then shouted at Digmon. 

"Why on earth did you stop! We have to find his room so that I can use it to find those annoying brats for myself! His room has monitors showing every inch of the Digital World!" 

The insectoid type Digi shrugged as they continued towards the room that Hikari and the others were in...   
****   
The three Digimon devolved back to V-mon, Tailmon, and Palmon. 

"Good job you three!" Mimi cheered. 

"What about Hikari-chan?" Daisuke asked in concern. 

The girl was still staring out into space, glowing. 

"Hikari-chan, why did you say that Daisuke-kun was the key to my Palmon being able to evolve?" 

"He destroyed the Dark Tower that was in this room, which allowed Palmon to evolve," Hikari responded, still in her trance-like voice. "My light also helped to rejuvenate Palmon as well." 

"Okay, but how come V-mon wasn't able to evolve to Fladramon, but he could evolve to Lighdramon?" 

"Because, Daisuke-kun, you showed that you have a strong friendship with Iori. Your friendship trait is a lot stronger than your courage, it always has been. Because of this, you were able to help V-mon armor evolve to Lighdramon." 

"Huh?" Daisuke and Mimi asked in confusion. 

"Now, we must hurry and leave. Danger is near." 

"Danger?" 

She nodded. "Yes, we must leave and meet up with Jyou-san and the others." 

The others didn't object and followed the glowing Kari. There were two paths that led to the room they were just in. Instead of going the way they came, Hikari went the other way. 

"Hurry..." she instructed.   
****   
"I think we're lost." 

"Don't say that Patamon!" Takeru said as if Patamon had said a bad word. "We have to find the others before something happens to them!" 

"Hey, what's that weird light up ahead?" Gomamon pointed. 

"I don't know," Yamato squinted to see. 

"I know this is going to sound strange of me, but I think we should go towards it." 

"I feel that we should too, Jyou," Gabumon nodded. "Very strange…"   
****   
"Wait, I thought I heard voices!" Tailmon announced, getting alert. 

"Don't stop," Hikari told them. 

The girl continued on. They bumped right into Yamato, Jyou, Takeru and their Digimon. 

"Hikari-chan?" Takeru stared. 

"The glow was coming from her!" Yamato realized. 

"Everyone, quiet," Hikari warned, holding up her hand. "Danger is near. We must leave here immediately." 

"But we don't know where we are, or which way to go," Patamon pointed out. 

"Quiet," Hikari instructed again. "Do not let the one that can take our lives hear you." 

The group kept quiet and hid and saw what Kari was referring to. 

"It's Iori-kun!" Takeru whispered. 

"Let us leave while he is occupied." 

"Sounds good to me!" Jyou said, agreeing wholeheartedly to Hikari's suggestion. "Let's go!" 

The group left, following Kari, right out of the base. After they got outside, Kari collapsed to the ground. Takeru and Yamato helped her up. 

"What happened?" the girl asked while rubbing her head. "Why are we outside? Did we ever find the source?" 

"We sure did, thanks to you!" Daisuke smiled at her. 

"Yeah! If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have ever found it!" Mimi added. 

"Really?" 

"Yep," Tailmon nodded, a proud smile on her face. 

"Sure did!" V-mon and Palmon smiled. 

"But Hikari-chan, who were you talking to?" Daisuke asked. 

"Talking to?" Takeru queried. 

"She was talking to someone that we couldn't hear," Mimi explained. 

"I was talking to the same person who told me that everything would be all right before. Remember when the Digimon Kaiser caught me, and he tied me up? That same voice, and the one we heard in the pyramid." 

"C'mon, let's get out of here and try to figure out the second half of this plan," Yamato suggested. 

"Hmm…" 

"Daisuke, what's wrong?" V-mon asked, noticing Daisuke's looking around, as if searching for someone. 

"I don't see Taichi-senpai, or Sora anyplace. She has my D-Terminal." 

"I don't see Agumon or Piyomon either," Gabumon said. 

"What's with these kids and them having short attention spans!" Jyou complained. "Knowing Taichi, he probably got bored and ran off." 

"You don't think they would _really_ leave without us, do you?" 

"No, I don't, Patamon." Yamato then started to panic some. 'Something must have happened to Taichi! He wouldn't leave me here! We're like best buddies, and he wouldn't just leave Hikari!" 

"Calm down, niisan." 

"Huh, what? What do you mean, 'calm down'?" 

"Well, you have that look on your face like you're really panicked over a situation ever since Taichi-san was mentioned. You always get that way when you're really concerned about someone." 

"Um, maybe I'm worried about Sora! She was with him!" 

Takeru shrugged and decided to get off of the subject. 

"Maybe you guys can track them on your Digivices." 

"Good idea, Gomamon," Mimi said, taking out her Digivice as fast possible, anxious to find Taichi and Sora. 

Just like with Mimi, all of the kids took out their Digivices and looked on them. They saw Tai and Sora, but couldn't figure out where they were. 

"Where are they going?" Yamato muttered. 

"I say we go talk to Miyako-kun and Koushirou about this," Jyou recommended. 

"It's too late for you to talk with them!" they heard an evil voice laugh. "They're probably dying or in the process of dying as we speak!" 

The group turned around and gasped. 

"Iori!" 

"Oh no, it's Digmon too!!" 

Everyone turned to see who had said that. "Tentomon?"   
****   
RP: What are you doing here Tentomon? You've disappeared remember? 

Tentomon: I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. I always do the "Oh no, it's insert evil Digimon>" line. It's in my contract! (Takes out a contract, puts on specially made   
Tento sized glasses) See, it states here that I must say it at least once per episode or in this case, "fic" even if I'm not in that particular episode or part. 

RP: -_- 

Tentomon: (Noticing the look RP had/takes off the glasses) I know, I know, I'm leaving, I'm leaving... 

The flying bug leaves. 

RP: Thank you, now maybe things can get back to normal. 

Readers: Yeah right! :-p   
****   
"What have you done with Koushirou and Miyako-chan!" Mimi demanded of the younger boy. 

"I haven't done a thing with them, but I'm sure my partner has," Iori smirked, his arms crossed. 

"Ichijouji!" Takeru growled in anger. 

"Bingo, as that goofy, glasses-wearing freak, Miyako would say." 

"How could you be so cold and heartless!" Mimi argued with Iori. "Miyako-chan is your friend! She has always been your friend, and she cares about you a lot!" 

Iori held his head and started to shake it vigorously. 

"No! Stop telling such lies! None of you care about me!" The boy let go of his head and glared evilly at Mimi for all she had said. "Digmon, attack them!" 

"Here we go again," Daisuke groaned. 

"RUN!" Takeru called out. 

The group started to run and ended up a good ways ahead of Iori, but Matt stopped running. 

"Niisan, what's wrong? Why did you stop running?" 

"I'm not running anymore!" 

Everyone gave Matt a look. 

"Are you crazy! We'll get killed here! Let's just get back to our hideout!" 

"No, Jyou! Iori is the reason Taichi ran away and left me," he then added on quickly, "and the rest of us! Taichi must've seen him coming and got Sora and Pyocomon to safety!" 

"I guess, but---" 

"I'm with Yamato," V-mon interrupted before Takeru could say any more. "We will stand our ground and defend ourselves!" 

"But Iori's unusually strong, and Digmon is very strong too!" Gomamon pointed out. 

"Yes, for some odd reason, he's been able to remain in that form pretty much indefinitely," Gabumon added wisely. "Nothing seems to weaken Digmon, and it seems as if Iori's hatred and abhorrence towards us is the energy being provided for Digmon so that he can remain as Digmon!" 

"So unless we get Iori back to his senses Digmon's never going to run out of energy? Is that what you mean?" Palmon asked. 

Gabumon nodded. 

"I say we go find Taichi! We're picking up a reading on our Digivices." 

"I'm with my brother. I see a few places, but they're scattered. There are two over here, and the other two in another part." 

"But what about Miyako-chan and Koushirou?" Mimi asked. 

"That's right! We have to find them now too, apparently," Daisuke said. "With the way Iori's talking, we can only hope that we aren't too late!" 

"Definitely!" Takeru nodded. "They're the ones that are obviously in danger!" 

"But who's going to look for Koushirou-san and who is going to go look for oniichan?" 

"Good question." Jyou started to get a pondering look. "The only thing we can do is split up again. Hikari should go in search of Taichi since he is her brother, and I guess you should take Yamato along with you since he's so concerned about both Taichi and Sora. And I guess Takeru should go along as well. The rest of us will go check up on Miyako-kun and Koushirou. My group will go back to the hideout and see what's up there." 

"Right!" 

"Let's get out of here before Iori finds us!" Daisuke said. 

"Just follow the signals on your Digivices everyone!" Jyou instructed. 

The group scattered and went off on their assigned tasks...   
****   
"Damn, we lost them!" He then muttered, "Stupid trees…" 

"Do you want me to keep looking for them, Iori?" 

"No, I have something else in mind. Forget all of them! It's time to take over Ichijouji's base as well as the entire Digital World! Let's go! We have some more plotting to do to get rid of my so-called master!" 

"Yes Iori." 

The two gave up their search and headed back to the base...   
*****   
Meanwhile... 

"They just wouldn't stay out of my way," an eerie voice uttered. 

"You're absolutely right, sir," a second, more unenthusiastic voice replied. 

"Of course I'm right! Now if they want these two back, they'll have to get through me!" 

The person laughed and looked at the two people he had shackled to a wall. 

"Are you sure you weren't too hard on them, sir?" 

The owner of the voice grew angered. "Are you questioning my motives, Wormmon!" 

"No, Ken-chan!" the small worm gulped. "I'm just saying that---" 

"I don't care _what_ you think or say! I know what I'm doing! I am going to get rid of the rest of the Chosen Children once and for all, and rule the entire Digital World, and prove that I _can_ be good at something! That I'll be able to achieve something that Osamu-niisan never has and never _will_ be able to obtain! I _will_ surpass him every way possible!" Ken then gave out a laugh. 

Why do things have to be this way?' Wormmon asked in thought dismally. 'The old Ken would never do this. He would never challenge his brother the way that he's doing now. In his eyes, his brother is still alive. Maybe one day, Ken-chan will come back to his senses. 

'Why can't he just become friends with the other children instead? I hate hurting my fellow Digimon. Poor Hawkmon and Tentomon. They didn't stand a chance against me…' 

"I'm sure that the rest of those snoops will show up sooner or later in search of their two, unconscious friends over here, and when they do, I'll be ready for them!!" 


	19. The Three Is Meet!

*Hey everyone, welcome back. I hope you're enjoying this so far. I would've had this up a bit sooner, but I'm also working on my fic, "Koushirou's Search." It's about Izzy going off in search of his real parents, but he doesn't know of their being deceased and stuff. That's me for ya, I always get ideas for other stories while _writing_ other stories. It's ironic, this was my very first Digimon fic, yet I got an idea for another one, "Digidreams Do Come True," while after I started this one and I already finished that one weeks ago. lol Oh, thanks for the reviews everyone. I really appreciate them and I hope to see more from you all, telling me what you think, what you think would make it better, etc. Your input is very important to me. ^_^ Oh, just a note. I sorta changed the way Ken feels about Osamu. You know, in the show he always felt sorry for himself since Ken pretty much blamed himself for Osamu's death. In here, Ken's pity is pretty much hatred towards Osamu. Never mind, you'll see what I mean. ^^' Now, as always, I do not own any of the characters and places normally seen in the show, manga, games, etc.* 

Part 19: The Three I(s) Meet! 

Mimi: Last time, Hikari, Daisuke, and I, along with our Digimon, found the main source of Iori's Dark Rings! Thanks to Daisuke's quick thinking and Hikari's possessed side, he destroyed a Mini Dark Tower which had the same negative power as a regular one and Hikari found the source of the Dark Rings controlling Iori. Because of Daisuke's destroying the Dark Tower, Palmon was able to Digivolve to Togemon and was able to help destroy this Dark Orb which was the source of Iori's powers, but for some strange reason, V-mon wasn't able to armor evolve to Fladramon using the Digimental of Courage, but he was able to evolve to Lightdramon using the Digimental of Friendship. We then ran into Jyou-senpai and the others and we're now looking for Tai and Sora who's seemed to have dissappeared as well as Miyako and Koushirou while on the run from Iori! Man, talk about _exhausting_! 

Insert 02 Intro here> 

Koushirou/Miyako/Ken Title: The Three I(s) Meet! 

Somewhere in the desert, we find Sora, Piyomon, and Taichi, with Izzy's laptop strapped to his back, all fanning themselves from the heat, accept for Agumon that is... 

"Man, it sure is hot out here," Piyomon said, using her wing to fan herself. 

"Hot? It feels great out here!" Agumon insisted, taking in a deep breath and enjoying the sun's harsh rays. 

"That's because you're a fire reptile, and can take the heat!" Piyomon argued, her already thinning patience, about to reach its limit. 

"Hey, don't get mad at me just because you have a coat of hot feathers!" 

"I'm a bird; I'm sup_posed_ to have feathers!" 

"That's your problem, not mine!" Agumon retorted as he stopped walking. 

"Oh yeah!" Piyomon said to the reptile, getting into his face, all puffed up as if she was about ready to fight or peck the reptile right in the nose. 

"Yeah, bird-brain!" 

"Who are you calling a bird-brain, Barney the Dinosaur!" 

"Barney the _Dino_saur!? Oh, that does it, Pepper---" the Digimon started, but his mouth was forced to close shut, disallowing him to launch the attack. 

"Quit it you two," Taichi sighed while holding Agumon's mouth shut. After Agumon nodded, Taichi let go. 

"Yeah, the heat is just getting to all of us," Sora said. 

"I'm sorry, Agumon," Piyomon apologized. "I guess I'm cranky because of this heat." 

"I guess I'm more irritated from the heat than I thought. I would never turn on a fellow Digimon, or a friend, unless it is extremely necessary or can't be helped, like those times where I evolved to Skull Greymon. I don't know what came over me just now." 

Taichi held Iori's D-3 in his hand, staring down at it. 'Could this be the problem? Could _this_ be the cause of Agumon's unusual short temper?' He mentally shook his head. 'Nah, it couldn't be. It may have an affect on their evolving, but it can't change a kind-hearted Digimon.' 

"Taichi," Sora called, interrupting the young, soccer player's thoughts, "maybe we should rest for a while." 

"_Rest_!? We have to find Miyako and Koushirou! Who knows what Ichijouji is doing to them! He could be torturing them for all we know! We know what he's capable of, just look at what he's done to poor Iori!" 

"Don't you think I _know_ that?! It's pointless for us to go after him by ourselves! He probably has an entire Digimon army just waiting to get us, and what do we have? Two Digimon who can't even evolve past their adult (champion) levels unless fate allows it! It would be irresponsible of us to go there and put that kind of pressure on them! They could get _killed_, Taichi!" 

"I have confidence in our Digimon!" the boy replied with no emotion. "They won't die!" 

"I have faith in them too, but you can only believe in them by so much when lots of obstacles are in their way! It would be suicide for them!" 

"So let me get this straight, it's okay for you to make rash decisions and to take chances, but it's not for me?" 

"Taichi, what are you talking about?" 

"Well, you were almost killed today trying to fight Iori on you own. When Piyomon found us, you told Yamato and me to get the others to safety while you fought against Iori if it was necessary. Both Yamato and I tried to talk you out of it, but you wouldn't! We offered to help you, but you refused it!" 

"That was a totally different situation! I didn't know that Iori-kun was going to ride on Digmon and fly and I didn't know about his D-3 and the effects that it would have on Birdramon!" 

"What makes this any different? We're looking for our friends and then we're going to try and free them. There's no guarantee that he's going to have a lot of Digimon surrounding the area!" 

Sora gave an exasperated sigh, not wanting to continue their conversation any further. "Okay, okay, you're right. Let's just drop it!" 

"Sora?" 

"Let's just drop the subject!" 

'Way to go, Taichi, now she's mad at me!' 

The group continued to walk in silence. Tai was a bit upset over the pointless argument that he and Sora had had. He was starting to wonder if Iori's Digivice was the cause of everyone acting so harshly and short patient towards each other, like if it was giving off some kind of dark energy that may have an effect on a person's mood. First Agumon got mad at Piyomon and now Sora had gotten mad at him over nothing. 

It didn't take long, but Tai spoke up. He really felt he owed Sora an apology. It was rare that the crest bearer of love ever got upset over anything, especially for something so trivial. He was just about to when he saw something up ahead. 

"Hey guys, look!" he pointed. "We made it! According to Iori's D-3, Koushirou and Miyako are over in that direction! That's where the signals are coming from." 

"Wow, that didn't take us too long!" Agumon said. 

"Nope, not at all. I knew we'd find where they were being held captive," Taichi smiled, patting his Digimon pal on the head. 

"Hey…" Sora said, noticing something up ahead. 

"A pyramid?" Piyomon questioned. 

"It's Etemon's pyramid!" everyone said. 

"Hey, if we're back near Etemon's, then the Sphinx may be reformatted and nearby too!" Sora realized. "Let's go hide there until we can come up with some kind of a plan to rescue Koushirou-kun and Miyako-chan." 

Agumon and Piyomon nodded in agreement and started to head towards the Sphinx along with Sora, Tai trotting a short ways behind. 

"Oh, I can't wait to get there!" the bird dreamily said. "We'll finally have some shade!" 

"C'mon, Taichi!" Agumon called, noticing how far behind Taichi was falling. 

The boy hurried along and caught up with the others. Once at the Sphinx, they all sat and rested so that they could come up with some kind of a plan to rescue their two friends. While the other three talked, Tai just sat there in deep thought, not hearing anything they were saying, let alone comprehending any of it. 

The crest bearer of courage started to feel a bit uneasy as they talked about how they would enter the pyramid, but he just couldn't figure out why. He knew he had to enter the pyramid, but he just didn't have the courage to. He had done it three years earlier, why was it so difficult for him to do so now? 

Sora and the other two Digimon noticed the apprehensive, not to mention worried, looks that Tai had on his face. 

"Taichi, what's wrong?" 

"Oh, nothing, Agumon. So, what were you all saying?" 

"I was just wondering which part of the pyramid those two are being held captive in." 

"Probably the same place where we were held captive, Sora." 

"Hey yeah! You're probably right!" Agumon said. "That would be the perfect place to hide them, especially with those firewalls to help keep himself protected from us!" 

"Thank you for those words of encouragement," Sora sweat dropped in disbelief. 'I would expect Tentomon to say something like that, not Agumon.' 

'Oh no, the firewalls! Why did he have to bring that up!' 

"I remember where we go to enter the pyramid." Sora pointed. "It's on that side over there. After that, we just find the right path that led to where I was held captive, and I'm positive as to where that is." 

"So, are ready to go?" Piyomon asked. 

"Yeah!" Sora then gave Taichi a smile. "We all need to take our chances, and if it's too much for us to handle, we'll just retreat and come up with something else." 

Agumon stood up. "Okay, let's go!" 

Sora and Piyomon nodded and stood, also willing and ready to go. 

"Um, you know guys," Taichi started nervously, still remaining seated, "maybe this isn't such a good idea." 

"What!" Agumon shouted out in surprise. "It was your idea to go through with this in the first place!" 

"C'mon, Taichi, we have to help them or at least check the place out to see what our chances of saving them are, at least." 

"No, Sora, it might be too dangerous!" 

"Taichi, we're already here. I'm sure I can navigate the place. Surprisingly, I remember almost everything about it, so you don't have to worry about getting lost, if that's what you're worried about." 

Taichi decided not to argue with Sora and the others and nodded slowly. He then stood up. 

"Okay, let's go!" the boy said with a forced tone of enthusiasm. 

"We better make sure to keep out of sight. Now, just follow me and everything will be fine." 

"Okay, Sora," Agumon and Piyomon obeyed. 

The group ran off and headed towards the pyramid and ended up right at a wall, which they could walk through. Sora was pretty good at navigating and her memory was serving her well. 

It didn't take them long, but they had finally arrived at a familiar looking firewall. Tai pretty much freaked out. 

"Taichi?" Agumon rushed over to his friend. "What's wrong, Taichi?!" 

Tai held his head and started to think to himself. He just couldn't understand why he feared the firewall so much. He always had that fear locked away in the back of his mind, but for some strange reason, the fear of going through the firewall had returned and for some reason, he was more afraid now than what he was three years earlier. 

He even knew that the wall wasn't even activated according to what Jyou told them and what Koushirou discovered when checking the area out with his laptop, but for some inexplicable reason, it just didn't matter. He was still too scared to even attempt going through it. 

"What if something goes wrong?" Taichi muttered. "What if Sora, or Agumon, or Piyomon get hurt because of me?" 

The boy continued to ask questions like that, worrying the others some. 

"Taichi, what's wrong with you!" Sora asked. 

"What if I lose them! I don't want to lose Sora. I'm nothing but a coward." 

The more negative things Tai said and thought about himself, the darker it became around him. Sora and the others noticed. All of a sudden, a hole opened up right underneath Tai and he fell in. 

"Taichi!" Sora called, trying to grab out to him before he could fall in, but she was too late. Taichi had fallen into the deep, dark abyss. 

"Oh no, not again!" 

"Again? What do you mean again, Piyomon?" 

"We have to go after him! Something is bothering Taichi! C'mon Agumon, Piyomon, hop in and don't get scared!" 

"I don't understand…" 

"Just listen to her, Agumon! She knows what she's talking about!" 

The little orange reptile could only shrug and jumped down into the opening along with Piyomon and Sora, hoping to get the boy back...   
****   
Meanwhile... 

"What's the matter, Ken-chan?" 

"I'm not so sure. I sense that somebody is here, but I've checked out all of the monitors I managed to re-hook since this place was abandoned, and I see no one. It's like someone is here, yet not." 

"You should _really_ come to terms with yourself, Ichijouji!" 

The boy looked around and shouted out, "Who's there!" in alarm, not expecting to hear someone, other than Wormmon, speak. 

"You don't know me, Ichijouji, but I sure know you." 

"Come out here where I can see you!" Ken ordered, his whip in hand. 

"That would be impossible for me to do, just like I told the other Chosen Children." 

"What?" 

"You really don't want this, Ichijouji. You don't want to kill to get your way." 

"What's it to you, and why are you here!" Ken snapped, still trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. 

"I have a right to be here since my spirit is trapped here." 

"Your spirit is trapped here?" 

The owner of the voice tsked. 

"You poor boy with your corrupt soul. One day it shall be healed, and then you'll realize that this isn't a game. Your sorrow and pity for the one you miss most was turned to hatred towards him; because of this, you're taking out your anger and resentment on those around you whom care about you very much, and you are treating the Digimon of this world as if they don't matter." 

"What do you know!" Ken cracked his whip. "Now get out of here and leave me alone!!" 

"Um, Ken-chan, who are you talking to?" 

"You don't hear the voice?" 

Wormmon shook his head. 

"Where are you and how _dare_ you say I pity someone! I pity no one!" 

"Oh, but you do, Ichijouji. It's just when you were tricked into dipping your regular model Digivice into the Dark Ocean, transforming it into a D-3, it all changed. Your sorrow turned to hate. Your remorse turned to competitive aggression. You are mad at the entire world, Ichijouji, and you want everyone to feel the same hatred and pity that you feel." 

"QUIET!! GO AWAY!!" 

"Ken-chan!!" Wormmon called out, worried about his human partner. 

"Um, sorry. I'm fine, I'm fine." 

"Ow, my arms ache!" Ken and Wormmon heard a voice whine. "Where am I?" 

"Ahh, they're awaking," the boy evilly smirked. 

"Only the girl, Ken-chan." 

"Yes, what's her name? Oh yeah, Inoue Miyako." 

Miyako looked up to see that her arms were shackled to a wall, and looked as if she was in some type of a dungeon; only the room had lots of computers in it. 

"You better let me down from here before I beat you senseless!" Miyako threatened. 

"Oh, I'm so worried," Ken yawned. 

"Why you little…ooo!!" the girl screamed in frustration as she tried to free herself. 

The girl quieted down, after realizing that she had no chance of getting loose, and looked to her side to see Koushirou in the same state as her, only he was still knocked out. 

"Izumi-senpai! Izumi-senpai, wake up!" 

The redhead started to stir. 

"Huh, what's going on?" The boy then realized that he couldn't move his arms, which were a bit sore due to the position they were in. "Hey, why am I tied up here like this!" The boy then noticed the lack of talking from a certain, eccentric bug. "Tentomon! Where is Tentomon!" 

"And Hawkmon!" 

"Calm down, your worthless Digimon are fine." 

Koushirou looked over to where the voice had come from to see a boy dressed in a dark suit, spiky hair, yellow, dark-lensed glasses, and a cape, holding a whip to his side. "Ichijouji?" 

"That's the Digimon Kaiser to you!" Ken corrected him as he cracked his whip. 

Not really caring one way or the other how he decided to address Ken, he decided to try his best to get answers. "What have you done with our Digimon, and where did you get such a power Digimon to attack them!?" 

"Oh, you mean Stingmon?" Ken gave out a small chuckle. "He's a secret weapon of mine." 

'Stingmon?' Koushirou thought. 'I wish I had my laptop to look up information on this Stingmon character. Hopefully, the analyzer would bring up information on him, and show what his weaknesses could be.' 

"It was _so_ funny watching you two sit there, talking, and then the looks on your faces when I arrived there with Stingmon was very highly amusing. You looked as if you feared for your lives, and then when those two Digimon of yours showed up to fight off Stingmon, it was even more hilarious! They even had the _nerve_ to try and evolve! Too bad they weren't fast enough." 

"Ken-kun, why are you doing this?" 

"Because I can!" Ken snapped at Miyako. "Wormmon, go show our guests in, but don't bring them in until I call for you." 

"Yes, Ken-chan." 

"And _don't_ call me Ken!" 

"Yes, Ken-chan." 

Ken sighed, realizing that he should probably give up on getting Wormmon calling him anything other than "Ken-chan." 

The Digimon sighed and slithered away to go and get Hawkmon and Tentomon, unwillingly. 

"He should be returning pretty soon," Ken informed his guests while taking a seat at one of the computers closest to them. 

"This place seems kind of familiar," Koushirou noted while looking around. 

"It should. This is where you guys fell for my trap!" 

"The Dark Tower bait!" Miyako realized. "This is the exact same pyramid that Daisuke and the others were in!" 

"That explains it." Koushirou turned his attention back to Ken. "I must compliment you, Ichijouji; you did a good job of fixing this place up, compared to how it looked when Etemon had control of it. I can only assume that this place was reformatted after the defeat of Apocalymon years earlier." 

"What are you doing!" Miyako whispered. 

"Trying to get on his good side," he whispered back quickly. He then put his focus back on Ken. "Yes, this is the room where the once feared Nanomon hid out with one of our fellow Chosens. He was pretty smart, but I must say you've topped him in that sense." 

"I think you failed! You're just giving him a swelled head." 

Koushirou ignored Miyako and continued. "You know, I could help you out with your computer problems. I see that you are having monitor problems. Well, I could only assume that you are having them since most of the monitors are blank. I'm sure I could figure them out." 

"Oh, Izumi," Ken chuckled lightly while shaking his head, "how naïve and dumb do you think I am? I would never let you tamper with these computers. I have researched all of you! I've done my homework; I know all about you, and how you're the computer genius and hacker of the group." 

Koushirou's face went red from the accusation in nervousness, and spoke up defensively. "I am _not_ a hacker! I do _not_ hack files of Microsoft in hopes of bringing them down and destroying Bill Gates's operations just so I can take over his company and run it the way I see fit!!" 

Both Miyako and Ken looked over at Koushirou with looks meaning, "What are you talking about?" 

"Ehehehe, um, never mind," he sweat dropped nervously. 

"If I let you on that computer over there, you'd probably send out some kind of a distress signal to lead everyone here and what fun would that be when they can find it themselves, and fry in the process from strange energy rings and a large amount of electricity." 

Both gave Ken looks of bewilderment, wondering what he was talking about. 

"I can tell that you're curious as to what I'm talking about. Meet two of my newest slaves!" He cracked his whip. "Okay, Wormmon, bring them in!" 

Right at that moment, Wormmon slithered in with Hawkmon and Tentomon right behind him. 

"Hey, Hawkmon!" 

"It's Tentomon! Glad to see you, buddy!" 

The two Digimon didn't respond to their greetings and they soon saw why. 

"Oh no! Tentomon has a Dark Ring around his waist!" 

"And Hawkmon has a Dark Sprial on his wing!" 

"And just to think, that's not the best part yet!" 

The Kaiser took out two Digivices, a red D-3 and a purplish, regular model Digivice. 

"Hey, that's my D-3 and his Digivice!" 

"You sure are observant," Ken sarcastically replied. 

"Tentomon! Tentomon!" 

"Come on, Hawkmon, snap out of it!" 

"They won't listen to you. They're under _my_ control now." 

"Let them go!" Miyako ordered. "Hawkmon, come over here!" 

"Like I told you already, they will not listen to you. Keep on talking and they'll probably attack you." 

"No way!" Koushirou protested. "We have a strong bond with them; they wouldn't turn on us like that! For all we know, this could all be some kind of a sham!" 

"So you would think." He then gave them another arrogant smirk. "That's what Agumon said as well as his human partner thought before I made him Dark Evolve to Skull Greymon, that he could get to Agumon and get him back to normal!" Ken turned towards his newest slaves. "Hawkmon, Tentomon, attack them now, but only scare them!" 

"Hai, Ichijouji-sama," the two bowed. 

The two turned towards their partners, their eyes blank and lifeless. 

"Hi there, buddy. I know you wouldn't attack me. We have been through so much together, and remember, I am supposed to help you break a deal with Veggiemon and Digitamamon." 

Tentomon inched closer towards Koushirou as the boy continued to speak. 

"Do you remember that, buddy? After we do that, we're going to fix your tree house, and---" 

"Petite Thunder!!"   
****   
At the same time as Izzy, only to Hawkmon... 

"C'mon Hawkmon, if you get me out of here, we can get those snacks you like so much from my parents' mart," she smiled confidently. 

Hawkmon gave her an icy stare as he slowly headed towards the single feather that stood up from atop his head. 

"I know you won't attack me. I love you too much, and you love me. We are the best of friends, and friends don't attack friends, Dark Spiral or no Dark Spiral." 

"Feather Slash!" 

Both attacks missed the two - Tentomon's electric zap hitting the floor in front of Koushirou, and Hawkmon's buzz-saw like attack slicing a few strands of Miyako's hair before returning to him, setting the feather back in place - but they now knew that Ken was serious. He did indeed have control over both of them and Ken definitely wasn't bluffing. 

Both of them had looks of shock on their faces. They figured that they could get through to them, but unfortunately, it didn't work. 

"See, what did I tell you," Ken said, his arms crossed. 

"Hawkmon…" Miyako's voice slightly quivered, her eyes starting to glisten over with tears. 

"I can't believe it…Tentomon…" 

"Now you know we mean business!" Ken then turned to the two Digimon. "We're going to have ourselves a little fun. Now, I want you to scout around and see if you find anyone snooping. If you do, kill them!" 

"Yes sir," the two obeyed. 

"Wormmon, go along with them and if it's necessary, use my secret weapon! You know how to summon him." 

"Yes, Ken-chan." 

Fed up with Wormmon's addressing of him, the boy cracked his whip. "And don't call me Ken-chan!!" 

"Hai, Ichijouji-sama," Wormmon frightfully obeyed. He then walked out with Hawkmon and Tentomon. 

"That's more like it. The respect I deserve, the respect that worthless Iori kid would give me." 

"How _dare_ you say mean things about Iori! Why would you do such a thing to a fellow human being! It's worse enough you turn Digimon on each other, but to go and do something like that to a human?! That's just low and about as rat-like as you can get!" 

"Oh no, I've been a bad boy," Ken mocked with a yawn. 

The glasses wearing girl looked as if she were about to rip her arms out of the chains and literally run up to Ken and strangle him. 

"Oh, you are _so_ lucky I'm stuck here!!" she threatened. 'But this is Ken we're talking about here! I don't want to hurt him, even though that's the most logical feeling for me to have right now. I'm mad at what he's doing, but I don't feel that he's bad. 

'He has to have some kind of a reason for the way he's acting. It's not normal for one to be doing the things that he's doing. Why can't I get mad at him? I'm just mad at what he's doing, not at him directly. This doesn't make any sense at all.' 

"Yo, Ichijouji, what's the deal?" 

Ken gave Koushirou a curious look, as did Miyako. "What deal?" 

"You know what I mean. What are you getting out of doing the things that you are doing?" 

"All I want is what every person secretly wants." 

"And that is?" Miyako asked. 

"World domination," Koushirou stated as matter of fact like. "You want to take over the Digital World for your own selfish purposes to try out different things to make yourself feel wanted and in charge. I too know that feeling. I sure wish I was in your place; I would be able to test out all of my different theories if I were." 

He sighed regrettably. 

"Too bad I've never been able to achieve the goal of taking over the Digital World. I would have succeeded, but of course we had to leave it three years ago, that is if we didn't want to face death. Since the Digital World was reconfiguring itself, it wouldn't have recognized us as typical Digital World data, and we would've ended up erased like a bad computer virus."   
*****   
RP: That's true, folks. For the original, if the kids would've stayed in the Digital World, they would've ended up deleted/erased, in other words, they would've been killed if they would've stayed, not stuck there forever like the dub says.   
*****   
"I_zu_mi-senpai!" Miyako stared at her mentor in surprise. 'Is he joking or is he serious? He's literally starting to scare me, and his expression is so serious!' 

"You don't know how wrong you are, Izumi! I have my reasons and I don't have to share them with you!" 

"Can you not see that I am actually quite interested in what you are doing? Maybe I want to bask in some of that glory." 

"Sorry, this is a one-man show." 

"Just a warning to you, you'll be sorry for not letting me work with you." 

The boy barked out a laugh over Koushirou's threat. 

"You _dare_ threaten me? Oh this is rich! A computer nerd is threatening me!" 

"I'm serious. You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Ichijouji. I'd watch my back if I were you. You can end up backstabbed if you don't treat people, as well as Digimon, nicely. Like that Digimon you used to attack us could turn on you." 

"I doubt that. One crack of my whip, and he'll obey me." 

Miyako started to think for a moment and came to a shocking realization. 

'That Digimon wasn't being controlled! It had no Dark Ring or Dark Spiral! Ken has literally gotten a new Digimon that's very powerful to obey him at his every command, but how and why would a fellow Digimon willingly do that?' 

"You just wait. You are going to end up killed; I just know it." 

"Quiet, you insect!!" 

Ken grew tired of Izzy's unusual way of talking and hit him with his whip in annoyance. Miyako shuddered at the loud cracking sound that echoed throughout the room, and how it had to have hurt, but Izzy didn't even wince in pain. Instead, he laughed. 

Both Miyako and Ken were a bit freaked out and stared at him with dropped jaws. 

"Ooo, a whip, how nice!" The boy the spoke sarcastically, yet in a demented, deranged manner. "Please, do it again! I enjoy pain!" 

The Kaiser couldn't do anything. Instead he just stood there, trying to figure out what was with this "weirdo." 

"Um Ken--, I mean Ichijouji-sama, please don't him again, for my sanity's sake. He's starting to scare me." 

Unsure of what else to do, Ken responded in an irresolute manner, "Um, yeah, okay. I shall respect your wishes, um, I guess. I have things to do anyway." He turned his back to them and walked out of the room. 'Man, what a weirdo!' 

"Izumi-senpai?" 

"What is it?" he asked with no feeling. 

"Is something wrong?" 

"Nope, I'm fine." 

Miyako decided not to talk for a while and think. To her, Izzy had totally lost it...   
****   
Back to Taichi & Sora... 

"Where are we going!!" 

The three were now walking through the dark tunnel at the bottom of the abyss that they all had jumped into. Agumon was surprised when he landed to the ground softly and felt as if he had floated down. 

"To find Taichi, Agumon," Sora replied, looking straight ahead, refusing to have her concentration broken. 

"Where are we?" 

"In a dark tunnel that was created by Taichi," Piyomon chirped. 

"How can Taichi, a human boy, make a tunnel?" 

"Easily. I've done it, and Yamato has too. We have both been in tunnels like this because we were wallowing in self-pity and worry. We didn't believe in ourselves, and thought negatively and felt sorry for ourselves. All that you see is the negative energy that Taichi is carrying around within himself right now." 

"But what could be so bad that it's bothering Taichi, Sora? Nothing ever seems to really bother him." 

"I wish I knew, Piyomon." 

The group walked a little while longer until they saw a familiar, goggle-less boy sitting with his back to the wall, muttering about how he's going to let everyone down since he was a coward. 

"Taichi! Taichi!" 

The boy looked up and saw his friends - Agumon's rushing and calling to him - but responded to them coldly. 

"What do _you_ want?!" 

"We're here to take you back," Agumon responded. 

"Take me back where? I'm no good up there." 

"What?" Sora asked. 

He held his Digivice, clenched in his closed up, right fist. "I am the crest bearer of courage, yet I am a big coward! What good would I do you if I went back! I can't help save them!" 

The girl thought for a moment and figured out what was bothering Tai. 

"Taichi, are you scared of going through that firewall?" 

"What?" 

"Are you scared of going through that firewall? Is that what all of this negative energy is? Your fear of something going wrong?" 

"What if I lose you again! What if something goes wrong?! What if---" 

"Quit it with the what ifs, Taichi! You have to face your fears and you have to believe in yourself even if you feel that no one else will believe in you." 

"But something _might_ go wrong! What if we don't live through this? I'm in charge and responsible for you all! I brought us here to save Miyako and Koushirou, but due to some fear I haven't had in years, I can't save anyone! I've let you and everyone down!" 

"Taichi, stop that! You are not letting anyone down! You showed great courage coming out here to face the Digimon Kaiser without the others! Nothing is going to go wrong! We will just have to face whatever is thrown at us. Remember, we are a team and we are in this together." 

Tai looked up at Sora and saw that she had a very serious look on her face. 

"A team?" 

"Yes, a team, and like you always say, 'there is no I in team'! You aren't doing this alone; we are here with you." 

"But what if I mess up?" 

"Taichi, you have to believe in yourself and in your own abilities. Don't think about all of the what ifs. Don't let one bad incident affect everything else that you do! 

"We know that you took Koushirou's theory lightly back then, but you were just a kid! It was quite understandable. You were just being yourself, rash and adventurous. You hadn't matured yet, but you are quite mature now and I know that you wouldn't make the same mistake again! That's the beauty of mistakes, one learns from them and it's obvious that you learned from that one. You learned that you shouldn't always rush into things and to think things through first, which you did before we came out here in search of Miyako-chan and Koushirou-kun. 

"Just believe in yourself Taichi!! Agumon and Piyomon believe in you." 

The two Digimon nodded in agreement. The girl then smiled at Taichi and spoke up in a small tone. 

"_I _believe in you..." 

The girl blushed a bit after that, but she hid it pretty much. The darkness that was surrounding them started to fade a bit. 

"You all do?" 

"Of course we do, Taichi!" Agumon smiled. 

"Yeah!" Piyomon nodded. 

"We believe in you, Taichi. We are your friends and that's all that should really matter. Whatever we may encounter, we will together. And you are _not_ a coward. You're one of the bravest people I know!" 

Taichi started to smile that same goofy grin that he always gave when happy about something, but he only really grinned this way when it had something to do with   
Sora. The tunnel was really starting to light up now. 

"Yeah, as long as you have your friends by your side, then nothing else should matter! If we thought you were a ditz, we wouldn't be here with you right now!" 

The boy laughed at Agumon's statement. He knew that it was true. No matter what, Agumon was always by his side, no matter how silly or impossible a task may seem. 

"You know what," he stood up, "you guys are right! We aren't going to accomplish anything by my sitting here, thinking negatively. Iori would never do that, and neither should I!" 

"That's the spirit," Sora smiled. 

After that, the tunnel vanished completely and the group was right back where they started. 

"Wow, the tunnel went away." 

"That's because Taichi isn't depressed anymore, Agumon," Piyomon explained. "Since he realized that he isn't going to lead any of us to our doom and how he isn't a coward, that's why it went away." 

"I guess I understand that." 

Tai looked at Sora and put his hand behind his head and had a nervous smile on his face. 

"Um, well, Sora, I just wanted to say, well---" 

"Don't mention it," the girl laughed. 

"Yeah, thanks." 

The boy frowned a bit and looked down at Iori's Digivice. 'I just don't understand why my fear grew the way that it did. It had never bothered me before, but it did just now. It's like I had to regain my courage. I wasn't even acting like myself. I hadn't even bothered to think about this until I came here and even grew more worried since I've had Iori's Digivice. I wonder if this D-3 has the power to make one's hidden fears a reality to make one seem negative, like it did with Agumon and Piyomon with their high annoyance of one another earlier.' 

"Taichi!" 

"Oh, sorry Agumon." 

"We better get going," Sora instructed while looking down at her Digivice. "According to the signal, we are getting pretty close." 

"We just have to go through that firewall," Piyomon reminded them. 

"I know that everything will be fine! If I could get over it once, I can get over it again! Hikari got through safely, so it should be fine now. My friends are in danger, and I plan on using all of my courage to help them!" 

Everyone nodded in agreement as they started to go through the firewall. They were stopped though, with a "shock." An electrical attack struck the floor right in front of them. 

"I wouldn't go any farther than that," a heavy voice threatened. 

The group started to look around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. 

"Who's there!" Taichi demanded. 

Sora started to back up a bit, also looking around. She then heard something like a buzz saw coming close towards her. She turned to face the sound and saw that a spinning blade was coming right towards her, about to slice her face, too stunned to even move. 

"Sora!!!" 

The small pink bird pushed Sora aside just in the knick of time as it sliced through the wall behind her. 

"That was a close one. Arigatou, Piyomon." 

"Who did that?" Agumon asked, while looking around. 

Two shadowy figures appeared before the group. The two figures stepped out into the open, causing the four to gasp at whom it was that had attacked them… 


End file.
